LIBRARY  OF  THE  THEOLOGICAL  SEMINARY 


CREATIVE  MUSIC 

FOR 

CHILDREN 


Digitized  by  tine  Internet  Arcliive 
in  2015 


littps://arcliive.org/details/creativemusicforOOcole_0 


Some  wliere  aloncj  tke  palk 

of  M 

■fliere  lies  an  Inslrumen-t 
suifed  to  {he  CajDaciiij 
oj'  everij  .Ckilcl  . 


CREATIVE  MUSIC 

FOR 

CHILDREN 

A  PLAN  OF  TRAINING  BASED  ON  THE 
NATURAL  EVOLUTION  OF  MUSIC 

INCLUDING  THE 

MAKING  AND  PLAYING  OF  INSTRUMENTS 
DANCING— SINGING— POETRY 


BY/ 
/ 

SATIS  N.  COLEMAN 


WITH  48  ILLUSTRATIONS 


G.  P.  PUTNAM'S  SONS 
NEW  YORK  AND  LONDON 

TLbc  "Bmicherbocf^er  ipress 


CREATIVE  MUSIC  FOR  CHILDREN 
<^ 

Copyright,  1922 
by 

Satis  N.  Coleman 

Published,  April,  1922 

Second  impression,  February,  1928 

Third  impression,  June,  1929 


Made  in  the  United  States  of  America 


ALL    THE    BOYS   AND  GmLS 
WHO  HAVE  WORKED  AND 
PLAYED  WITH  ME 


PREFACE 


This  book  has  been  prepared  especially  for  those 
mothers  and  teachers  who  have  written  to  me  for 
help  in  their  work  with  young  children.  It  is  not 
for  those  who  have  geniuses  to  train — for  genius 
makes  demands  and  finds  ways  peculiarly  its  own — 
but  for  those  who  wish  to  give  all  children  more 
vital,  more  fundamental,  and  more  joyous  experi- 
ences in  their  early  musical  training;  for  any  who 
may  be  interested  in  the  musical  training  of  chil- 
dren, and  for  all  those  who  wish  to  see  music  make  a 
more  effectual  contribution  to  character  building, 
home  life,  and  society. 

My  first  appeal  to  teachers  in  behalf  of  the  child 
appeared  in  the  Musical  Observer  for  September, 
1917.  Two  years  later  a  monograph  on  "Primi- 
tive Music  for  Primitive  People — a  new  view  of 
music  for  children,"  gave  a  general  statement  of  the 
principles  underlying  the  work  which  forms 
the  subject  matter  of  this  book.  In  June,  1920, 
two  articles,  one  in  Musical  America,  and  one  in 

vii 


viii 


Preface 


Good  Housekeeping,  were  written  by  visitors  to  my 
studio,  and  these  articles  resulted  in  so  many 
letters  from  mothers  and  teachers  in  all  parts  of 
the  United  States  who  were  perplexed  by  problems 
similar  to  mine,  that  a  book  seemed  the  inevitable 
answer  to  them. 

After  my  studio  experiments  had  proved  to  me 
and  to  others  that  musical  training  in  its  broad 
sense,  including  the  making  and  playing  of  instru- 
ments, was  practicable,  educative,  and  joy-giving 
in  small  groups  of  children,  my  next  wish  was  to 
try  out  the  plan  with  large  classes  to  ascertain  the 
practicability  of  bringing  these  stimulating  activi- 
ties into  the  lives  of  public  school  children.  So  in 
the  autumn  of  1919  I  began  an  experiment  in  the 
Lincoln  School  of  Teachers  College,  applying  my 
studio  experiment  to  large  classes,  and  the  results, 
so  far,  have  been  gratifying.  A  full  report  of  this 
newer  experiment  will  be  given  later  for  the  benefit 
of  those  teachers  who  may  be  interested  in  the  idea 
as  applied  to  school  conditions.  The  scope  of  this 
book,  however,  is  confined  to  its  application  in  the 
studio  and  in  the  home. 

To  Miss  Emily  Barnes  I  am  indebted  for  the 
specific  name  of  my  work.    After  observing  the 


Preface 


ix 


experiment  in  my  studio  and  in  the  school,  she 
thought  the  name  "Creative  Music"  an  appropri- 
ate one  to  cover  all  phases  of  the  work  in  con- 
struction of  Musical  Instruments,  Creation  of 
Music  and  Poetry,  Playing,  Singing,  and  Dancing, 
and  it  is  in  this  sense  that  I  have  used  the  term 
throughout  the  book.  I  am  also  indebted  to  Miss 
Lida  Lee  Tall  and  to  Miss  Helen  Norfleet  for  sug- 
gestions in  the  revision  of  the  manuscript. 

I  would  add  a  word  in  appreciation  of  Mr.  R.  E. 
O'Neill's  interpretation  of  the  spirit  of  my  work 
in  the  charming  picture  he  has  drawn  for  the  lining 
of  the  book. 

S.  N.  C. 

New  York, 

September,  1921. 


CONTENTS 

PART  I 
THE  BACKGROUND 

CHAPTEB  PAGE 

I. — Music  Lessons  or  Musical  Training?       .  3 
II. — Early  Heresies  of  the  Writer        .        .  13 

III.  — The  Story  of  an  Idea       ...  .23 

PART  II 

THE  CREATIVE  MUSIC  EXPERIMENT 
Introduction  .       .       .       .       .    ,    .  37 

IV.  — How  THE  Children  Made  their  Instru- 

ments .......  39 

V. — The    Development    of    the  Rhythmic 

Sense    .......  82 

VI. — Singing  and  Voice  Control  for  Children  99 

VII. — Correlation  of  Singing  and  Playing  108 

VIII. — Original  Compositions     ....  122 

IX. — A  Word  about  Recitals  ....  134 

xi 


xii  Contents 

PART  III 
THE  OUTCOME 

CHAPTER  PACK 

X. — The  Place  of  Creative  Music  in  Edu- 
cation .......  141 

XI. — The  Beginnings  of  Creative  Music  in  the 

Home  185 

XII. — Suggestions  to  Teachers         .       .       .  207 

List  of  Instruments  Used  in  this  Work  215 


LIST  OF  ILLUSTRATIONS 

FACING 
PAGE 


Frontispiece 

1 .  The  Last  Touches  of  the  Tom-Tom's  Decora- 

tion (after  the  Maker's  Original  Design)  8 

2.  A  Glass  Player  of  33^  Years  (Birch-Bark 

Drum  in  Corner)    .....  16 

3.  A   Three-Note   Marimba   Played   by  its 

Maker  24 

4.  Ready  for  the  March  (Tom-Tom  and  Tabor)  32 

5.  A  Sleigh-bell  Melody  (Hollow  Stump  Drum 

below)    .......  40 

6.  Chinese  Gongs    ......  48 

7.  Swiss  Bells        ......  56 

8.  A  Twelve-Note  Marimba  Played  by  its 

Maker  64 

9.  Pipes  of  Pan       ......  72 

10.  Reed  Trumpet     ......  80 

11.  A  Birch-Bark  Trumpet       ....  80 

12.  Some  Music  Lessons  are  Best  Out  of  Doors  86 

xiii 


xiv  Illustrations 

FACING 
PACE 

13.  The  SuEPHERn's  Pipe    .        .        .        .  •      .  86 

14.  A  Noon  IIouu  at  Home.    A  Flageolet  Duet  94 

15.  A  Revival  of  Merrie  England's  Pipe  and 

Tabor     .......  100 

16.  Triton-Shell  Trumpeters   ....  106 

17.  A  Lazy  Oboe  Player  106 

18.  Chinese  Tche  112 

19.  Transverse  Reed  Flute      .       .       .  .112 

20.  Wheat-Straw  Clarinet       .        .        .  .112 

21.  Summer  Music  in  the  Garden  (Squash-Leaf 

Oboe)  116 

22.  A  Young  Apollo  Plays  the  First  Stringed 

Instrument    .        .        .        .        .  .116 

23.  Experiments  with  the  Tension  Bow  120 

24.  The  Ancient  Egyptian  Shoulder  Harp  is 

Revived  by  the  Help  of  a  Cart  Wheel  .  128 

25.  Listening  to  the  Soft  Tones  of  the  Theban 

Harp  132 

26.  A  Young  Orpheus       .....  136 

27.  A  Psaltery  Duet        .       .       .       .        .  142 

28.  Four  Stages  in  Our  Development  of  the 

Lyre      .......  142 

29.  A  Modern  Kin  of  the  Old  Chinese  Type     .  148 


Illustrations 


XV 


FACING 
PAGE 

30.    Barney  Tries  his  New  Cocoanut  Banjo      .  148 


31.    The  Use  of  the  Movable  Bridge  is  Dis- 
covered .......  148 


32.    A  High  Bridge  is  Added  and  the  Banjo 

Becomes  a  Fiddle  ....  154 


33.    The  Bird's-Nest  Lute         .       .       .  .160 


34.    There  is  a  Time  and  a  Place  Even  for  the 

Cornstalk  Fiddle  .....  166 


35.    Alva's  Cello  Gradually  Takes  Form  .  170 


36.    The  Beginnings  of  Chamber  Music  in  the 

Family    .......  178 


37.  A  Cello  and  Two  Monochords  Serve  this 
Trio  in  their  Chamber  Music  Combina- 
tions     .......  178 


38,  "Just  to  See  How  it  Sounds  under  my  Chin." 

(Elizabeth's  Cigar-Box  Violin)     .      '  .  184 

39.  "The  Soundpost  Makes  it  Sing  Like  a  Real 

One!"  184 


40.    Another    Ancestor    of    the    Piano — the 

Dulcimer       ......  190 


41.    The   Irish   Harp,   too,    Belongs   in  our 

Category       ......  190 


42.  After  all,  the  Modern  Cello  is  Not  so  Far 
Removed  from  its  Ancestor  the  Mono- 
chord     .......  196 


xvi 


Illustrations 


FACING 
PAGi; 

43.    Bobby  and  Jane  Build  "Pio-pens"  to  Music  200 


44.    Simple    Instruments    that    Ciiildken  can 

Make  at  Home       .....  206 


45.    Suggestions  fok  Home-Made  Drums    .        .  206 


Music  Plates  (Original  Compositions)        .  214 


CREATIVE  MUSIC  FOR  CHILDREN 

PART  I 
THE  BACKGROUND 


CHAPTER  I 

MUSIC  LESSONS  OR  MUSICAL  TRAINING  ? 

The  human  interest  in  music  is  as  old  as  the  race, 
and  the  use  of  it  as  a  recreative  and  stimulative,  as 
well  as  a  soothing  agent,  antedates  history.  The 
Chinese,  Hindus,  and  other  oriental  peoples  long 
ago  recognized  its  influence  on  the  mind  and  on 
human  conduct,  and  Confucius  went  so  far  as  to 
claim  that  he  could  tell  whether  or  not  a  nation  was 
well  governed  merely  by  hearing  its  music.  The 
ancient  Greeks  defined  the  different  effects  of 
different  kinds  of  music,  and  recognizing  it»  value 
in  the  education  of  their  youth,  gave  it  an  impor- 
tant place  in  the  school  curriculum.  But  in  the 
various  upheavals  through  which  our  civilization 
has  passed  since  then,  music  has  been  allowed  to  fall 
from  its  earlier  high  estate.  Although  the  church 
has  preserved  its  religious  aspect  and  our  own  in- 
stincts have  preserved  its  recreational  meaning,  we 
have,  until  recently,  overlooked  its  educational 
value. 

3 


4  Music  Lessons  or  Musical  Training? 


Just  now  we  are  groping  our  way  to  a  better 
understanding  of  the  significance  of  music  in  the 
training  of  the  young,  but  we  are  still  without 
conviction.  We  cannot  ignore  the  fact  that  music 
is  growing  to  be  one  of  the  strongest  forces  of  our 
society,  and  as  a  people,  we  enjoy  and  encourage  it. 
The  shelves  of  our  libraries  are  heavy  with  books 
about  music  and  musical  training,  pleas  for  the 
propagation  of  good  music,  learned  discussions  of 
masterpieces  and  theories,  popular  treatises  on 
music-appreciation,  expositions  of  methods,  and 
analyses  of  music, — scientific,  spiritual  and  artistic. 
During  the  past  decade  the  floodgates  seem  to 
have  been  opened  and  music  of  varying  degrees  of 
worth  has  deluged  the  public.  Some  of  us  have 
absorbed  the  good  and  the  beautiful;  some  the 
unbeautiful;  and  many  of  us  are  wondering  how 
this  great  force  is  to  be  controlled  and  its  beneficent 
power  conserved.  We  do  know  that  it  is  toward 
the  children  that  our  efforts  must  be  directed,  but 
the  minds  of  most  of  us  are  not  quite  clear  as  to 
how  music  may  best  contribute  to  the  development 
of  our  children. 

In  these  days  nearly  everyone  believes  in  some 
kind  of  musical  training,  though  occasionally  one 
4oes  find  a  parent  who  thinks  it  a  useless  waste  of 


Music  Lessons  or  Musical  Training?  5 


time.  However,  when  such  an  attitude  is  met,  it  is 
usually  due  to  lack  of  information  on  matters  of 
education,  or  it  is  the  result  of  former  unsatis- 
factory experiences.  A  mother  once  said,  "I 
studied  music  for  several  years,  but  I  have  nothing 
to  show  for  it  and  I  cannot  play  a  tune  to-day. 
Why  should  my  children  repeat  that  waste  of  time 
and  nervous  energy?  Life  is  too  short";  and  her 
inference  was  right.  A  disappointed  father  once 
said,  "Yes,  I  am  going  to  sell  the  piano.  I  spent 
thousands  of  dollars  in  order  that  my  daughter 
should  learn  to  play,  and  I  had  visions  of  sitting 
by  the  fire  in  the  evenings  while  she  played  to  me 
all  those  old  things  I  love  so  well.  But  my  money 
was  wasted  and  my  effort  availed  nothing.  She 
never  opens  the  piano,  and  when  I  ask  her  to  play 
for  me  she  says,  *I  can't  play  a  thing.'  No  more 
music  lessons  in  my  family."  A  nervous  woman 
once  said,  "I  cannot  bear  to  hear  the  children 
practice.  It  makes  me  positively  ill.  Perhaps  it 
is  because  I  live  over  experiences  in  my  own  child- 
hood. When  I  was  a  child  I  had  lessons  on  the 
violin.  It  was  very  difficult  for  me,  and  my  teacher 
used  to  get  very  cross  and  often  gave  me  a  sharp 
pencil-whack  across  my  fingers  when  I  didn't  hold 
them  properly  or  played  the  wrong  note.  My! 


6  Music  Lessons  or  Musical  Training  ? 

how  it  hurt!  I  can  feel  it  yet!  And  somehow, 
since  then,  I  have  always  hated  violin  music." 

In  spite  of  the  discouraging  effect  of  many 
experiences  similar  to  these,  there  are  few  enlight- 
ened parents  who  do  not  try  to  give  their  children 
some  form  of  musical  training,  and  many  think  it 
important  enough  to  make  great  sacrifices  to  that 
end.  On  the  other  hand,  there  are  still  those  who 
look  upon  musical  ability  as  a  special  gift,  and 
think  that  none  but  the  talented  need  pursue  the 
study.  I  have  been  interested  to  note  how  widely 
parents'  ideas  differ  as  to  the  special  gains  to  be 
derived  from  the  study  of  music.  Some  parents, 
without  any  definite  object  in  view,  or  without 
knowing  why  they  wish  it,  just  want  their  children 
to  be  able  "to  play."  Some  want  to  give  them  all 
the  advantages  the  age  provides,  saying,  perhaps, 
*'I  never  had  the  chance  when  I  was  young;  I  want 
to  give  my  children  all  those  advantages  that  I 
missed."  Some  parents  see  in  the  study  of  music  a 
mental  stimulant;  others  a  vocation  and  means  of 
livelihood.  In  some  cases  the  main  thought  is  to 
keep  the  children  busy  after  school  hours,  or  to 
provide  them  with  a  pleasurable  and  harmless 
pastime  and  larger  resources  for  self  entertainment. 
To  many,  the  final  goal  is  "music  appreciation" 


Music  Lessons  or  Musical  Training  ?  7 


and  the  ability  to  enjoy  good  music;  and  there  are 
those  who  study  music  merely  to  broaden  their 
appreciation  of  art  in  general.  Some  wish  most  for 
music  in  the  home,  for  the  enjoyment  of  family  and 
friends,  and  some  parents  arrange  for  lessons 
merely  to  gratify  the  wish  of  the  child.  There  are 
others  who  consider  the  greatest  value  of  musical 
training  to  be  its  refining  power  in  the  cultivation  of 
the  emotions  and  tastes,  while  still  others  look  to  it 
mainly  for  help  in  muscular  coordination  and 
physical  poise. 

More  of  us  than  have  realized  it,  perhaps,  have 
been  interested  in  music  as  an  accomplishment — an 
ornament — something  to  make  our  children  more 
attractive  socially.  It  may  have  been  the  wish  to 
make  her  daughters  welcome  in  larger  social  circles 
and  to  give  them  a  wider  field  for  selection  in  the 
choice  of  husbands  that  led  the  mother  of  a  few 
generations  ago  to  urge  musical  training  upon  her 
daughters,  rather  than  upon  her  sons,  for  the  sons 
had  more  direct  ways  of  attaining  to  marriage. 
Fifty  years  ago  few  American  parents  considered 
music  lessons  for  the  boy  unless  he  showed  unusual 
talent;  but  often  great  sacrifices  were  made  that  the 
daughter  should  be  able  to  play  a  few  "company 
pieces"  at  the  piano.    Unfortunate  results  have 


8  Music  Lessons  or  Musical  Training? 


come  about  from  this  general  attitude  towards 
musical  training  as  an  accomplishment — something 
to  affect  one's  social  life.  But  it  is  easy  to  see  how 
this  attitude  has  been  encouraged,  for  on  the  face 
of  it  the  ability  to  make  music  is  an  accomplish- 
ment that  has,  from  earliest  times,  made  one  more 
welcome  among  his  fellows;  and  it  is  right,  of 
course,  to  encourage  it  from  the  pleasure-giving 
side. 

The  child  very  easily  catches  the  spirit  that 
moves  his  parents  to  give  him  lessons.  His  atti- 
tude towards  music  is  established  in  the  beginning 
of  his  musical  education  and  it  is  very  hard  to 
change  it.  If  he  feels  that  his  social  popularity 
depends  in  any  measure  upon  his  musical  ability, 
it  is  inevitable  that  jealousies  shall  arise;  for  it  is 
only  natural  that  he  should  wish  to  feel  power  over 
others,  and  therefore  he  resents  whatever  weakens 
that  power,  especially  if  it  is  a  rival  personality. 
The  jealousies  among  singers  and  players  in  the 
social  and  professional  world  are  well  known  and 
seem  to  me  an  inevitable  result  of  the  attitude  we 
have  held  toward  musical  training.  It  has  been 
so  easy  to  use  music  as  a  means  to  gain  the  atten- 
tion and  applause  of  others;  its  very  nature  lends 
itself  to  the  "showing  off"  propensity  in  children, 


1.    Tlie  Last  Touches  of  the  Tom-Tom's  Decoration  (after  tlie  Maker's  Original 

Design) 


Music  Lessons  or  Musical  Training  ?  9 


and  many  adults,  too,  have  no  stronger  motive 
behind  their  daily  practice  than  the  wish  for  public 
applause.  The  adulation  of  the  individual  artist 
in  a  public  performance,  rather  than  the  pure 
enjoyment  of  the  music  itself,  is  an  exaggerated 
result  of  this  attitude,  and  the  view  of  the  audience, 
in  its  turn,  feeds  anew  the  perverted  motive.  It  is 
much  easier  to  let  this  tendency  of  music  run  along 
the  open  road  of  ego-gratification  in  our  training 
than  to  guide  it  through  paths  of  more  wholesome 
development.  But  we  must  find  those  paths. 
For  the  desire  to  produce  effects  on  other  people  is 
strong  enough  in  us  all  to  need  no  extra  stimulation, 
and  when  the  subtle  power  of  music  is  thrown  in 
that  direction,  the  result  is  a  disastrous  over- 
balancing. 

Musical  training  has  extraordinary  educational 
value,  but  so  long  as  we  are  interested  in  music 
as  an  accomplishment  only,  and  so  long  as  the 
motivating  power  behind  musical  study  is  the  wish 
to  impress  others,  we  shall  never  realize  its  greatest 
value. 

But  what  about  the  outcome  for  that  vast  num- 
ber of  people  whose  purpose  is  not  superficial 
ornamentation,  but  who  wish  their  children  to  be 
musical,  with  all  the  wholesome  results  that  come 


10  Music  Lessons  or  Musical  Training? 

from  being  so?  Have  we  realizea  our  hopes? 
Have  we  and  our  children  had  "music  lessons"  or 
musical  training?  And  are  we,  as  a  people, 
musical? 

To  be  musical  is  to  feel  and  enjoy  music — to 
have  the  impulse  that  results  in  habits  of  playing 
and  improvisation — and  to  enjoy  one's  own  music 
and  that  of  others  for  the  sake  of  the  music  itself. 
The  Australian  Bushman  is  musical.  Travelers 
say  that  the  Bushman  sits  alone  for  hours  at  a 
time  listening  to  the  sound  of  his  gora,  without 
being  concerned  about  anything  but  the  succession 
of  tones  which  he  brings  out  of  it  for  his  own  pleas- 
ure. Most  primitive  peoples  are  musical,  and  the 
music  employed  by  them  is  a  necessity  of  life.  The 
primitive  people  in  our  midst,  the  children,  are 
musical  in  the  beginning  (more  so  than  some  of  us 
think)  but  this  tendency  does  not  always  survive 
their  training,  and  perhaps  no  one  will  claim  that 
"grown  up"  America  is  truly  musical.  The  ne- 
groes in  the  South  are  (or  were)  musical.  They 
came  from  Africa  with  rich,  musical  voices,  a 
natural  capacity  for  melody  and  harmony  and  a 
tendency  to  musical  production.  Out  of  their 
natural  gifts  has  come  the  most  beautiful  folk-song 
literature  America  has.    The  sorrows  that  civili- 


Music  Lessons  or  Musical  Training?  n 


zation  has  forced  upon  the  negro  in  removing  him 
from  his  African  home  have  doubtless  had  a  part 
in  the  development  of  his  music,  but  it  is  certainly 
not  the  result  of  any  training  that  our  civilization 
has  given  him. 

We  believe  that  we  love  music,  but  as  a  rule  we 
do  not  love  it  enough  to  take  the  trouble  to  make  it, 
and  most  of  our  home  music  at  present  is  "repro- 
duced "  and  not  "home-made."  Do  we,  as  families, 
love  to  gather  together  in  the  evenings  and  sing  and 
play,  as  really  musical  peoples  do.^*  (I  wonder  if 
many  of  us  realize  just  how  far  that  custom  goes 
toward  making  children  musical?)  Compare  our 
habits  with  those  of  musical  European  countries. 
Do  our  young  people  show  enthusiasm  over  singing 
clubs  and  musical  gatherings  .-^  Do  we,  after  all  our 
training,  appreciate  and  encourage  the  best  music  .^^ 
Has  our  training  given  us  all  a  taste  for  truly  beauti- 
ful music?  Does  it  "harmonize  the  souls"  of 
those  who  pursue  it,  as  the  Greeks  found  it  did, 
and  does  it  make  us  kinder  and  more  just  in  our 
relations  to  others?  And  does  it,  as  the  ancient 
Chinese  believed,  bring  us  poise  and  self  control? 
Has  the  study  of  music  proved  a  good  investment 
of  time  and  money?  Does  it  really  bring  us 
happiness  and  content?    We  have  reason  to  expect 


12  Music  Lessons  or  Musical  Training? 

all  these  things  in  some  measure,  and  if  we  have 
been  disappointed,  if  we  are  not  musical,  never 
"know  anything  to  play,"  if  "bought"  music  is 
the  only  kind  that  thrives,  if  we  grow  nervous 
and  irritable  in  the  study  of  it,  and  envy  someone 
who  plays  or  sings  better;  if  it  has  not  helped  us  to 
recognize  and  enjoy  beauty  or  to  express  some  form 
of  beauty  that  is  within  us,  if  it  has  not  helped  to 
make  our  lives  move  in  better  adjustment  to  the 
"rhythmic  beat  of  Nature," — the  fault  lies  not  in 
the  art,  but  in  the  use  that  we  and  those  before  us 
have  made  of  it. 


CHAPTER  II 


EARLY  HERESIES  OF  THE  WRITER 

Former  Innovations  Concerning  Notation,  Singing, 
and  Dancing 

If  we  feel  a  lack  in  what  music  has  done  for  us, 
there  are  probably  two  main  causes  for  that  lack. 
Our  musical  training  in  the  past  and  present  is,  of 
the  two,  the  more  responsible,  and  may  even  lie 
at  the  root  of  that  other  contributing  cause, — our 
customs  and  attitude,  as  a  people,  toward  music. 
My  feeling  that  something  was  wrong  in  the  way 
music  was  taught — to  me,  at  least — really  began 
at  the  age  of  eight.  I  vividly  remember  the  day  I 
was  to  have  my  first  music  lesson,  my  eager  antici- 
pation and  thrills  of  joy  to  think  I  was  going  to 
learn  to  play  the  piano !  Soon  I  would  understand 
that  mysterious  array  of  black  and  white  keys,  and 
be  able  to  manipulate  them  in  a  "really  truly" 
tune !  At  last  the  hour  came  and  I  sat  on  the  piano 
stool  and  the  teacher  sat  beside  me.    Then  she 

13 


14      Early  Heresies  of  the  Writer 


opened  a  book  and  put  it  in  front  of  me.  The  page 
did  not  read:  "Put  your  finger  on  this  key  and 
play  Yankee  Doodle,''  as  I  half  expected,  but 
instead,  there  was  a  picture  like  a  fence,  with  many 
black  spots  on  it.  She  said  it  was  a  staff,  and 
began  telling  me  various  things  about  it.  My 
interest  in  this  staff  was  only  momentary,  and  then 
I  went  back  to  the  thing  I  had  come  for.  "I  want 
to  learn  to  play,"  I  ventured.  "All  right,  my 
dear;  this  is  the  way  to  learn  to  play.  You  must 
first  learn  to  read  these  notes,  and  then  you  can 
play  them  on  the  piano."  Then  followed  explana- 
tions and  drill  on  the  letter  names.  "When  the 
note  is  in  this  place,  you  must  strike  this  key,"  and 
by  going  through  a  most  intricate  mental  process, 
the  teacher  allowed  me  to  strike  an  occasional  key. 

But  where  was  the  tune?  And  what  did  the 
lines  and  spots  in  the  book  have  to  do  with  music, 
anyway?  I  wanted  to  play  the  piano,  not  study 
queer  marks  in  a  book.  My  fingers  ached  to  make 
a  tune  that  sounded  "pretty,"  or  to  play  some  of 
the  little  songs  I  already  knew  how  to  sing;  but  she 
would  neither  show  me  how  nor  let  me  try.  The 
disappointment  was  bitter.  But  my  longing  to 
play  was  so  great  that  I  was  willing  to  pay  any 
price,  so  I  accepted  the  terms — hard  though  they 


Early  Heresies  of  the  Writer  15 


were — and  finally  learned  the  notes.  I  remember 
being  greatly  discouraged  and  nervous  over  the 
complicated  feat  of  trying  to  hold  my  hands  in  the 
right  position,  decipher  the  note's  place  on  the  staff, 
figure  out  its  time  value  and  strike  the  right  key, 
all  at  the  same  time;  and  when  it  came  to  managing 
two  hands  and  puzzling  over  two  staffs  at  the  same 
time,  it  was  indeed  a  trial!  My  only  incentive 
and  comfort  lay  in  the  hope  that,  finally,  music 
would  come  out  of  all  this  mental  strain  and 
nervous  tension. 

After  a  time  I  found  great  pleasure  in  picking 
out  tunes  by  ear  and  harmonizing  them  to  suit  my 
own  fancy,  but  that  was  soon  prohibited.  My 
teacher  gave  directions  that  I  was  not  to  be  allowed 
to  "play  by  ear"  at  all,  as  it  would  ruin  my  note 
playing,  and  her  instructions  were  carried  out.  I 
felt  the  deprivation  very  keenly,  but  it  chanced  that 
after  the  first  year,  my  lessons  were  discontinued 
for  a  few  years,  and  I  was  free  to  do  as  I  liked  at  the 
piano.  So  I  played  by  ear  and  improvised  to  my 
heart's  content;  read  notes,  too,  and  grew,  all 
unaided,  in  musical  feeling  and  understanding. 

In  after  years  it  was  the  memory  of  my  childish 
disappointment  and  instinctive  feeling  that  led  me 
to  try  the  plan  of  teaching  children  to  play  the 


i6      Early  Heresies  of  the  Writer 


piano  by  ear — entirely  without  notation.  The 
memory  of  how  I  had  naturally  improvised,  and 
an  analysis  of  my  childish  mental  operations  in 
harmonizing  melodies,  were  my  guides  in  teaching 
improvisation  at  the  piano. 

Ten  years  ago  my  experiments  with  children  had 
already  proved  that  they  could  be  taught  to  play 
the  piano  without  the  help  of  printed  notes,  and 
that  they  loved  to  do  it.  It  all  seemed  so  natural 
and  reasonable.  Does  not  a  child  learn  to  speak 
his  language  before  he  learns  to  read  it,  and  shall 
he  not  say  musical  things,  with  his  fingers  as  well 
as  with  his  voice,  before  he  reads  them?  Herbert 
Spencer  reminded  us  years  ago  that  the  thing 
should  be  taught  before  the  symbol  of  it — that 
experience  should  come  before  knowledge — but  we 
have  been  slow  to  realize  how  ruthlessly  we  have 
broken  that  educational  principle  in  our  music 
teaching.  We  have  overlooked  the  original  and 
true  purpose  of  notation,  and  have  confused  the 
symbol  with  the  thing  symbolized.  It  was  a  true 
instinct  that  made  me,  as  a  child,  feel  disappoint- 
ment in  my  teacher,  perhaps  as  much  as  if  she  had 
told  me  a  picture  of  my  mother  was  the  real 
mother. 

It  is  not  surprising  that  so  many  children  hate 


2.    A  Glass  Player  of        Years  (Hircli-I?ark  Drum  in  Corner) 


Early  Heresies  of  the  Writer  17 


their  music  lessons.  The  thing  that  interests  them 
is  the  playing — the  sounds  they  make.  If  that 
activity  is  blocked  by  something  of  no  interest  in 
itself  they  quite  naturally  become  bored;  if  coer- 
cion is  used  in  note  reading  routine,  they  usually 
come  to  hate  it;  and  since  this  mountain  of 
difficulty  lies  between  them  and  the  thing  they 
want,  they  give  it  up  as  being  undesirable  at  that 
price.  I  believe  it  is  a  great  mistake  to  deal  with 
music  in  a  disciplinary  manner,  forcing  children 
to  practice.  Music  is  going  to  affect  us  emotion- 
ally. The  delicately  organized  child  will  not  be 
indifferent  to  it — he  will  either  love  it  or  hate  it — 
and  forcing  him  into  it  without  his  wish  will  either 
make  him  hate  it,  or  make  him  irritable  towards 
those  who  urge  it. 

Many  children,  enthusiastic  at  first,  lose  their 
ardor  in  the  dreary  process  of  learning  to  read 
notes,  and  give  it  up  before  they  ever  taste  the  joys 
of  real  musical  expression.  Many  others,  more 
persevering,  settle  down  to  cold  mechanical  playing 
because  the  natural  feeling  cannot  break  through 
the  wall  of  conscious  technicalities  which  their  train- 
ing involves.  The  opportunity  for  free  expression 
must  be  given,  and  the  habit  cultivated  from  the 
very  first,  unfettered  by  new  or  complicated 


i8      Early  Heresies  of  the  Writer 


processes,  mental  or  physical,  if  one  is  ever  to 
realize  the  meaning  of  free  musical  expression. 
Few  habits  are  harder  to  break  than  that  of 
constraint. 

"One  mental  process  at  a  time,"  says  the  modern 
educator.  When  we  think  of  the  mental  processes 
and  simultaneous  muscular  feats  required  in  teach- 
ing the  use  of  an  unfamiliar  keyboard  or  group  of 
strings  by  means  of  an  unfamiliar  system  of  signs, 
manipulated  by  unpracticed  and  uncoordinated 
muscles,  we  are  appalled !  (Let  a  "  grown-up  "  who 
knows  neither  notation  nor  the  use  of  an  instru- 
ment, try  it  with  either  violin  or  piano.)  The 
wonder  is  that  any  children  survive  with  a  love  for 
music.  And  perhaps  none  would,  were  it  not  for 
the  great  inborn  desire  to  make  music.  This  is 
merely  a  proof  of  the  power  of  music  over  us,  and 
the  greatness  of  the  human  need  and  longing  for 
musical  expression. 

One  modern  educator  (M.  E.  Boole  in  Pre'p- 
aration  of  the  Child  for  Science)  says:  "I  believe 
that  hardly  any  mistake  in  education  is  more 
disturbing  to  normal  brain  action,  more  likely  to 
induce  nerve-storms  in  delicate  children,  or  more 
dangerous  to  future  brain  power  in  all  children, 
than  the  attempt  to  convey  a  new  idea  by  means  of 


Early  Heresies  of  the  Writer  19 


a  process  still  artificial  {i.  e.,  inadequately  coordi- 
nated) or  to  teach  a  new  process  by  means  of  an 
idea  still  unfamiliar."  The  observation  of  children 
becoming  nervous  and  irritable  at  the  piano  or 
violin  probably  lies  within  the  experience  of  most 
of  us.  "When  the  process  of  learning  by  the  more 
direct  means  has  become  so  familiar  as  to  be  per- 
formed sub-consciously,"  then  and  only  then 
should  the  more  complicated  processes  begin. 

Another  educator  (H.  S.  Jennings,  in  his  Biology 
of  Children  in  Relation  to  Education)  states  that, 
"Training  is  even  harmful  when  it  comes  earlier 
than  the  development  of  the  power  which  it  tries 
to  train;  it  must  then  be  classed  with  the  blights 
which  cut  off  the  development  of  the  powers. 
.  .  .  This  driving  of  the  powers  too  far  le?ids  to 
most  serious  difficulties — nervousness,  twitching 
of  the  face,  etc.  Strain  makes  men  hate  their 
work." 

How,  then,  are  we  to  eliminate  this  strain  in  the 
child's  playing?  How  can  we  teach  him  to  play 
without  note  reading? 

He  learns  to  speak  his  mother  tongue  by  rote,  or 
imitation;  he  learns  to  sing  by  rote;  birds  teach 
their  little  ones  to  sing  by  rote;  all  young  animals 
learn  by  imitation;  why  shouldn't  the  child's  first 


20      Early  Heresies  of  the  Writer 


playing  be  by  rote?  Why  not  deliberately  employ 
the  child's  natural  way  of  learning  until  the  physi- 
cal process  becomes  easy?  Very  soon,  as  his  ear 
and  his  mentality  develop,  he  can  follow  a  more 
intellectual  process  and  play  by  ear. 

But  playing  a  melody  by  ear  presupposes  that 
the  child  knows  the  melody.  Therefore  before  a 
child  can  play  by  ear,  he  must  first  sing.  The  only 
way  he  can  really  possess  a  melody  is  by  singing 
it,  and  his  singing  may  begin  as  soon  as  he  begins 
to  talk,  or  even  before.  There  is  no  strain  in  a 
child's  learning  to  sing  songs  that  are  suited  to  his 
age. 

From  the  beginning,  he  must  sing  and  play 
rhythmically.  But  to  do  so,  he  must  fed  the 
rhythm  of  what  he  is  playing,  and  the  feeling  for 
rhythm  must  come  through  the  body.  Reasoning 
thus,  I  saw  the  necessity  of  adopting  dancing  also 
as  a  part  of  the  child's  musical  training,  for 
rhythmical  playing  depends  upon  bodily  response 
to  rhythm.  Some  form  of  dancing  it  must  be,  not 
aesthetic  or  social  dancing,  but  something  suited  to 
his  age  and  development;  something  that  will 
cultivate  his  rhythmic  sense  at  his  own  level,  and 
make  him  free  to  express  it.  Most  folk  dances  are 
too  difficult  for  very  small  children,  but  some  of 


Early  Heresies  of  the  Writer  21 


the  simple  dances  of  primitive  peoples  give  excel- 
lent material  for  these  little  folks. 

Some  singing,  some  dancing,  and  some  playing, 
seemed  to  me  to  be  the  proper  formula  for  a  child's 
music  lesson;  but  for  very  young  children  (I  had 
some  pupils  of  three  and  four  years  of  age)  it  was 
singing  and  dancing  only,  for  my  cue  in  the  instru- 
mental phase  of  the  work  was  to  wait  until  the 
child  wanted  to  play,  and  voluntarily  sought  that 
means  of  expression. 

The  results  were  very  gratifying.  Children  who 
had  been  baffled  by  the  printed  page  found  it  easy 
and  delightful  to  play  the  piano  by  rote  and  by 
ear,  and  to  improvise,  with  nothing  but  the  key- 
board to  think  of.  Children  who  had  never  sung 
in  their  lives,  delighted  in  singing  folk  songs  and 
improvising  little  songs  of  their  own,  and  they 
all  reveled  in  the  rollicking  dances  of  childish 
primitive  peoples. 

And  what  about  notation?  I  gave  it  to  them 
when,  out  of  their  own  experience,  they  realized 
a  need  for  learning  to  read  notes,  wanted  it,  and 
asked  for  it.    Then  it  was  easy. 

After  a  time,  however,  a  problem  arose:  A  few 
children  wanted  to  play  whose  hands  were  too  small 
and  too  weak  to  get  any  real  satisfaction  at  the 


22      Early  Heresies  of  the  Writer 

piano.  They  wanted  to  play  real  tunes  and  yet 
their  fingers  were  not  ready  for  it.  For  a  long 
time  I  had  believed  that  children  did  not  seek 
knowledge  or  any  kind  of  training  until  they  were 
mentally  and  physically  ready  for  it,  but  here  were 
some  apparent  exceptions.  Why  did  these  chil- 
dren have  the  impulse  to  play  and  insist  on  playing 
before  they  could  manipulate  one  finger  without 
all  the  others  getting  in  the  way?  Drums  and 
other  time-beating  instruments  which  they  had 
used  did  not  answer — they  wanted  to  play  tunes. 
I  was  greatly  puzzled. 


CHAPTER  III 


THE  STORY  OF  AN  IDEA 

The  solution,  of  my  problem  came  most  unexpect- 
edly. At  the  suggestion  of  friends,  I  give  below 
an  exact  account  of  the  train  of  thought  which  led 
to  that  solution. 

One  morning  in  the  midst  of  spring  house- 
cleaning,  I  dropped  into  a  chair  to  rest  for  a 
moment  and  gather  strength  for  a  fresh  attack. 
Things  were  piled  about  the  room,  and  within  reach 
of  my  hand  was  one  of  those  long  old-fashioned 
minstrel  banjos,  leaning  against  a  chair.  I  lifted 
it  to  my  lap  and  idly  twanged  the  strings.  There 
is  something  very  appealing  in  the  sound  of  gut 
strings  stretched  over  parchment — something  at 
once  a  lament  and  happy  abandon — and  when  one 
can  add  to  that  sound  a  few  childhood  memories 
of  Old  Uncle  Joe  and  the  other  darkies  on  Saturday 
evenings  in  a  sunnier  clime  than  this,  the  banjo 
claims  a  place  of  affectionate  regard. 

The  monotonous  chords  soon  worked  a  charm 

23 


24  The  Story  of  an  Idea 


and  I  was  surprised  to  see  how  quickly  my  aching 
fatigue  disappeared.  It  had  been  quite  a  common 
habit  for  me  to  "rest  myself"  from  physical  fatigue 
by  playing  the  piano,  but  I  had  never  experienced 
such  a  quick  restoration  as  this.  "What  is  it  in 
this  instrument,"  I  wondered,  "that  gives  it  so 
much  power?  Is  it  the  peculiar  tone  quality,  or 
what  is  it?" 

Its  magic  was  well  known  to  Old  Uncle  Joe : 
"Run  yonder,  honey,  and  shoo  dem  chickens 
outen  de  do',  fo'  dey  gits  into  Melindy's  clabber! 
I'se  dat  tired  I  couldn't  budge  offen  dis  bench  ef  de 
house  wuz  on  fiali;  dat  I  couldn't.  Deze  ole  laigs 
is  followed  dat  mule  and  de  plow  near  'bout  twenty 
mile  to-day,  and  him  de  beatenes'  mule,  de  con- 
traries' mule  in  de  whole  creation!  Dat  he  is. 
No,  honey,  I  aint  gwine  a'  move  from  here,  dat  I 
ain't." 

And  all  the  time  he  was  ringing  out  a  pinky- 
panky  banjo  accompaniment  to  his  excuses.  Soon 
his  banjo  was  "warmed  up,"  as  he  called  it,  and  in 
less  than  five  minutes  he  was  "kickin'  de  backstep" 
and  "cuttin'  de  pigeon  wing"  to  his  own  banjo 
playing — a  feat  which  must  be  attempted  before 
one  can  realize  the  physical  exertion  it  requires. 
No  wonder  the  darkey  loves  his  banjo  if  the  twang- 


3, 


A  Three-N'otc  Marimba  Played  by  its  Maker 


The  Story  of  an  Idea 


25 


ing  of  its  strings  can  so  quickly  "spirit"  away 
the  leg-heaviness  that  comes  from  following  a 
contrary  mule  all  day! 

"What  is  it,"  I  questioned,  "in  this  instrument 
that  strikes  so  deeply  and  clings  so  tenaciously  to 
the  very  roots  of  his  nature?  And  why  is  it  that,  as 
I  sit  here  stroking  these  strings,  I  am  even  more 
soothed  than  by  piano  playing,  though  I  play  the 
piano  better,  and  have  played  it  many  years 
longer?  Perhaps  my  position  has  something  to  do 
with  it?  No,  my  piano  chair  is  just  as  comfortable 
as  this,  and  my  left  arm  is  less  relaxed  than  it  is  at 
the  piano,  so  it  can't  be  my  position.  Neither  can 
this  lively  tune  be  responsible.  Can  it  be  the  fact 
that  I  am  holding  the  instrument  so  close  to  my 
body  that  my  nerves  take  up  the  vibration^  more 
perfectly,  having  contact  with  the  vibrating  instru- 
ment at  the  waist,  both  thighs  and  wrists  and  the 
fingers,  as  well  as  the  sound  waves  through  the  ear? 
Surely  that  must  have  something  to  do  with  it. 
Then,  there  must  be  a  difference  between  striking 
a  string  indirectly  by  means  of  a  hammer,  and 
striking  it  directly  with  your  fingers.  To  feel  with 
your  fingers,  a  string  vibrating  in  response  to  your 
own  physical  touch,  gives  a  far  greater  pleasure 
than  the  use  of  a  mechanism  ever  so  perfectly 


26  The  Story  of  an  Idea 


devised  for  striking  strings.  You  have  produced  a 
tone  that  is  more  truly  your  own.  And  so  it  seems 
to  me  that  one  who  plucks  the  strings  with  one's 
fingers,  will  feel  a  closer  intimacy  with  the  instru- 
ment than  one  whose  stroke  must  pass  through  a 
series  of  mechanical  devices  before  the  sound  is 
made. 

"That's  it!  It's  the  intimacy  of  the  thing!  No 
keys,  no  hammers,  sockets,  or  pins.  Only  the 
string,  my  fingers,  and  a  resonating  body  beneath 
them!  A  direct  touch  and  an  instantaneous 
response!  If  that  is  the  secret,  then  the  banjo  is 
not  the  only  instrument  that  has  the  magic  charm. 

"Ah,  yes,  I  have  another  childhood  memory  of 
how  my  older  brother  used  to  sit  and  play  his 
guitar  by  the  hour  in  the  evening  'just  resting 
himself  after  working  hard  on  the  farm  all  day. 
He  didn't  know  much  about  it — had  picked  up  a 
few  chords,  a  Spanish  Fandango  and  one  or  two 
other  little  things — and  not  until  this  moment  have 
I  ever  appreciated  his  point  of  view  when  he 
declined  to  study  piano,  for  he  loved  the  piano,  and 
I  had  implored  him  to  let  me  teach  him  what  I 
knew.  But  he  remained  content  to  play  his  small 
guitar  repertoire  over  and  over  again  every  evening. 
In  those  days  I  rather  pitied  his  poor  musical  taste. 


The  Story  of  an  Idea 


27 


and  felt  that  he  did  not  really  appreciate  my 
revered  instrument  nor  his  opportunity  to  learn  it. 
But  now  I  see  that  his  taste  was  wholesome  and 
natural,  and  I  respect  his  judgment  in  adopting 
an  instrument  that  gave  him  the  greatest  return  for 
the  time  he  had  to  spend  upon  it." 

Then  there  came  to  my  mind  the  picture  of  the 
Austrian  peasant  who  sits  by  the  fire  in  the  evening 
and  plays  his  zither — another  simple  instrument 
with  no  mechanism  between  the  strings  and  the 
player.  Nearly  every  mountain  peasant  has  some 
form  of  zither  in  his  home,  and  can  play  it.  "Per- 
haps," I  thought,  "that  is  why  the  Austrians  are  a 
more  musical  people  than  we  are — because  their 
peasants  have  instruments  that  are  simple  enough 
for  everybody  in  the  family  to  play  without  having 
to  'take  lessons.'  For  that  matter,  most  European 
peoples  have  some  sort  of  simple  stringed  instru- 
ment for  the  leisure  hours  of  the  'landfolk';  an 
instrument  cheap  enough  for  every  family  to  own 
one,  and  simple  enough  for  anyone  in  the  family  to 
play  by  ear,  if  he  only  has  a  little  patience. 

"What  is  our  'simple  strings'  for  the  land  folk.? 
The  negro  with  his  banjo  is  the  only  answer  I  know. 
When  we  came  over  (for  we  all  came  over  from 
somewhere)  did  we  leave  all  our  peasant  instru- 


28 


The  Story  of  an  Idea 


ments  behind  ?  And  are  the  negroes  more  musical 
than  the  rest  of  us  Americans  because  they  and 
their  African  ancestors  have  made  a  freer  use  of 
simple  instruments? 

"The  simplest  form  of  zither  has  no  frets,  and  a 
separate  string  for  each  note,  even  simpler  than  the 
guitar  or  banjo;  no  wonder  the  peasants  of  Austria 
and  other  European  countries  could  play  their 
simple  folk  songs  so  easily  upon  it.  No  doubt 
many  children  started  picking  out  tunes  so  early 
that  they  scarcely  remember  when  or  how  they 
learned  to  play.  There's  an  idea!  I  will  let  my 
little  folks  play  the  zither !  Several  of  them  whose 
hands  are  too  small  and  too  weak  for  the  piano  are 
longing  to  make  music  of  some  kind  with  their 
hands,  and  they  really  could  pluck,  one  at  a  time, 
the  strings  of  the  zither. 

"Plucked  strings  and  a  string  for  each  note, 
lying  flat  on  a  table  or  in  the  lap.  Why  haven't  I 
thought  of  it  before?  Could  any  instrument  be 
simpler  for  children  to  play?  Yes,  there  was  the 
Greek  lyre,  perhaps  the  simplest  of  all  forms  of 
plucked  strings.  The  logical  thing  would  be  for 
me  to  start  my  children  with  the  lyre!  If  I  could 
only  get  one!  But  alas!  there  are  none  to  be  had. 
Why,  I'll  make  one  and  let  my  little  ones  play  on 


The  Story  of  an  Idea 


29 


that!  First  of  all,  the  lyre,  the  simplest  form  of  all 
stringed  instruments!  But  wait!  Even  that  is 
not  the  beginning!" 

Then,  as  in  a  vision,  a  complete  picture  flashed 
before  me,  and  I  saw  my  little  pupils  going  back 
for  their  first  music  not  to  the  Greeks,  but  much, 
much  further  back,  even  to  primitive  man  and  the 
early  savages.  "They  shall  build  up  their  own 
art  and  experience  the  development  of  music  from 
the  beginning,"  I  said  to  myself.  "Being  little 
savages,  they  can  understand  savage  music.  I 
shall  find  the  child's  own  savage  level,  and  lift  him 
gradually  up  to  higher  forms;  and  he  shall  under- 
stand each  stage  as  he  reaches  it,  for  his  power  will 
grow  with  it,  and  his  work  will  always  be  at  his 
own  level.  The  natural  evolution  of  music  shall  be 
my  guide  in  leading  the  child  from  the  simple  to  the 
complex;  and  we,  with  guidance,  may  probably 
often  discover  and  cover  in  one  lesson  things  that 
required  generations  for  man,  without  guidance,  to 
learn. 

"Primitive  man  made  his  own  instruments,  and 
so  shall  we  make  many  of  ours,  too !  How  children 
will  love  making  them!  And  of  course  any  child 
will  love  to  play  on  an  instrument  he  has  made ! 

"We  shall  study  and  make  all  types  of  instru- 


30 


The  Story  of  an  Idea 


ments — wind,  string,  percussion,  and  what  not! 
Everything  that  a  primitive  savage  can  do  in 
music,  children  can  do.  They  shall  find  out  how 
the  art  of  music  was  evolved  and  by  their  own 
creative  work  they  shall  experience  its  most  impor- 
tant stages.  How  can  it  fail  to  cultivate  the  musical 
instinct,  and  build  up  musical  power  and  under- 
standing! Why  have  we  all  this  time  been  trying 
to  bridge  over  this  enormous  field  of  music?  And 
such  a  beautiful  and  interesting  field  it  is,  too ! 

"Beginning  at  the  drum  stage,  my  children  shall 
be  little  savages  who  know  nothing  of  music,  and 
they  shall  dance  primitive  dances  and  beat  upon 
rude  drums  and  shake  rude  rattles  until  they 
discover  some  way  of  making  tone.  Song,  too,  we 
will  follow  from  the  simplest  beginnings  through 
the  course  of  its  evolution,  and  correlate  our 
singing  with  our  playing.  My  little  savages 
shall  play  their  simple  tunes  upon  pipes  of  Pan 
until  they  find  out  the  principle  of  the  flute; 
they  shall  play  upon  the  resonanceless  shoulder 
harps  of  the  Egyptians  until  they  discover  how 
resonance  can  be  obtained  for  strings;  they  shall 
play  upon  bells  and  gongs  and  musical  stones  and 
strips  of  wood,  and  blow  horns  and  bugles.  They 
shall  play  upon  the  lyre  and  primitive  harp  until 


The  Story  of  an  Idea 


31 


they  discover  how  one  string  can  be  made  to  play 
more  than  one  note;  they  shall  make  and  play  upon 
primitive  fiddles  and  lutes  and  banjos!  Their 
singing  and  dancing  and  playing  shall  evolve 
together,  until  finally  they  are  able  to  select  the 
instruments  that  appeal  most  to  them,  and  each 
child  will  then  give  special  attention  to  his  chosen 
instrument.  Perhaps  it  will  not  be  the  piano  at 
all! 

"How  ridiculous  it  now  seems  that  all  these 
years  we  have  been  confronting  a  child  with  the 
most  complicated  instrument  man  has  yet  evolved, 
and  have  expected  him  to  use  it,  without  giving  him 
any  of  the  steps  that  lead  up  to  it !  And  how  unjust 
that  the  verdict  of  'unmusical'  has  been  passed 
upon  so  many  children  unable  to  cope  with  this 
difficult  medium!  Many  of  the  musical  giants 
of  Europe  lived  before  the  piano  even  existed! 
And  I  know  that  most  of  those  great  ones  played 
every  instrument  that  was  used  in  their  time. 
The  art  of  music  is  as  old  as  mankind  itself !  And 
yet  in  our  day  we  have,  as  a  rule,  begun  our 
instrumental  instruction  with  an  instrument 
invented  in  the  eighteenth  century,  or  else  with 
the  violin,  the  most  difficult  of  all  modern  instru- 
ments!   Is  it  any  wonder  that  wc  have  failed  to 


32 


The  Story  of  an  Idea 


make  of  ourselves  a  really  musical  people?  That 
we  have  failed  to  strike  'rock  bottom'  with  our 
training?  All  the  Symphony  concerts  and  musical 
lectures  and  lessons  in  the  world  cannot  take  the 
place  of  development  in  the  foundational  principles 
of  music  and  living  experiences  in  them.  How  sad 
it  seems  that  all  this  rich  field  of  musical  instru- 
ments and  their  development  should  have  been 
of  interest  heretofore  only  to  collectors  and  history 
students!  What  an  opportunity  the  educator  has 
lost!  To  the  musical  educator  more  than  to 
anyone  else  these  things  have  a  message  of  vital 
importance.  If  a  child  lives  the  art  of  music  from 
its  primitive  beginnings,  makes  his  own  instru- 
ments and  plays  upon  them,  and  discovers  for 
himself  each  stage  in  the  development  of  musical 
instruments,  how  can  he  help  being  musical?" 

An  undertaking  was  before  me:  To  bring  the 
whole  history  of  music  within  reach  of  the  child, 
and  make  it  practicable  for  him  to  live  through  it; 
to  concentrate,  eliminate,  and  simplify;  to  find  out 
how  to  make  and  how  to  use  all  these  instruments ; 
and  to  arrange  a  course  suited  for  children's  hands 
and  minds  that  would  give  them  the  actual  experi- 
ences of  developing  a  complete  art  of  music  in  a 
way  that  would  awaken  and  refine  their  musical 


4.     Heady  for  tlic  Marfli  ( 'I'oiii-Toin  and  Tabor) 


The  Story  of  an  Idea 


33 


powers  and  taste  and  still  not  consume  too  much 
time  out  of  the  full  curriculum  of  the  modern 
child's  life.  Before  me  were  endless  study  and 
research,  experiments  with  children  in  the  field  of 
primitive  music  and  in  music's  later  development, 
trying  out,  sifting,  testing,  exploring  my  own  way 
through  an  untried  forest  of  hundreds,  yea,  thou- 
sands of  years'  growth,  guided  only  by  a  strong 
belief  that  here  lay  the  material  that  would  satisfy 
the  child's  natural  craving  to  make  music,  that 
would  give  him  great  happiness  and  at  the  same 
time  develop  his  musical  sense  and  his  musical  un- 
derstanding from  the  very  foundations, — through 
his  own  personal  experience.  Furthermore,  I  be- 
lieved that  his  whole  life  would  be  vastly  en- 
riched, that  his  intelligence  in  other  lines  would  be 
brought  into  use  and  woven  into  this;  that  the  ele- 
mental forces  of  his  nature  would  be  so  exercised 
in  investigation  and  experiment,  and  in  creative 
work  of  both  hands  and  mind,  that  his  character 
and  entire  personality  and  mental  habits  would 
be  developed  and  strengthened,  and  the  musical 
returns  would  be  only  a  small  part  of  his  gain. 

Stimulated  by  the  vision  of  all  this  for  children, 
the  undertaking — however  great  the  problem  and 
however  arduous  the  task — seemed  worth  trying. 


34 


The  Story  of  an  Idea 


The  research  and  experiments  that  followed  have 
finally  resulted  in  a  definite  plan  for  foundational 
work  in  music  for  children.  It  is  my  purpose  to 
give  in  the  following  pages  a  resume  of  a  three 
years'  experiment  in  my  studio,  with  as  much 
detail  as  the  size  of  this  volume  will  allow. 


PART  II 

THE  CREATIVE  MUSIC  EXPERIMENT 


35 


INTRODUCTION 


The  experiment  proper  began  in  October,  1918, 
after  a  summer  of  preliminary  experiments  with 
several  children  from  three  to  six  years  of  age. 
Previous  to  that,  I  had  worked  my  way  alone 
through  the  constructive  side  of  the  plan  as  out- 
lined in  the  preceding  pages.  Two  children,  one 
five  and  a  half,  and  the  other  seven  and  a  half 
years  of  age,  were  the  first  to  begin  the  process  of 
study  according  to  my  new  plan,  but  others  of 
ages  varying  from  three  to  nine  years  were  soon 
included.  The  lesson  period  was  one  hour.  Some 
of  the  children  came  four  times  a  week  and  others 
twice  a  week.  After  the  first  year,  Saturday  class 
lessons  were  organized  to  give  them  greater 
opportunities  in  ensemble  work. 

For  convenience  in  relating  the  story  of  my 
experiment  I  shall  divide  the  work  into  its  several 
parts,  devoting  different  chapters  to  different 
activities;  but  it  must  be  borne  in  mind  that  all  of 
these  phases  were  developed  simultaneously  and 

37 


38 


Introduction 


were  closely  correlated.  So  far  as  was  practicable, 
each  lesson  touched  upon  every  phase  of  the  work, 
though  sometimes  a  child  would  spend  the  entire 
hour  on  one  thing,  unwilling  to  leave  it,  especially 
if  he  were  making  an  instrument.  The  younger 
the  child,  the  greater  was  the  variety  of  activities 
employed  in  his  lesson,  not  only  because  he  had  so 
much  to  learn,  but  also  because  he  was  less  able  to 
concentrate  steadily  on  any  one  thing.  But  since 
he  had  to  sing  and  dance,  make  instruments  and 
play  them,  acquire  other  knowledge  related  to 
these  things,  form  habits  and  develop  skill  in  many 
lines,  one  hour  seemed  all  too  short,  even  for  the 
very  young  child,  and  it  usually  passed  before 
either  he  or  I  realized  it. 

In  a  logical  outline,  giving  my  work  in  the  order 
of  its  presentation  to  children,  dancing  and  singing 
would  be  placed  first.  Those  phases  of  musical 
training,  however,  have  been  ably  developed  by 
others,  and  in  this  work  the  greatest  experimental 
aspect  of  those  phases  is  the  correlation  of  them 
with  other  phases  of  musical  training.  In  relating 
the  story  of  my  experiment  I  am  giving  first  that 
part  which  is  more  truly  an  experiment  in  the  sense 
that  it  is  an  exploration  in  an  untried  field. 


CHAPTER  IV 


HOW  THE  CHILDREN  MADE  THEIR  INSTRUMENTS 

The  description  of  that  phase  of  the  work  which 
has  to  do  with  the  construction  and  use  of 
instruments  must  also  be  divided,  for  the  sake  of 
easier  presentation,  into  the  three  general  sections, 
percussion,  wind,  and  stringed  instruments.  Here 
again  it  must  not  be  inferred  that  we  finished  one 
type  before  taking  up  another.  I  tried  out 
instruments  in  various  orders  with  different  chil- 
dren, because  I  believed  that  the  child's  age  and 
natural  musical  tendencies  should  be  important 
considerations  in  selecting  the  order  of  his  instru- 
ments. For  example,  although  we  used  percussion 
instruments  first  of  all,  as  primitive  peoples  do, 
nearly  all  my  younger  pupils  used  very  simple 
stringed  instruments  at  the  same  time  they  were 
playing  on  those  of  the  percussion  type,  and  before 
they  had  been  introduced  to  wind  instruments  at 
all.  Simplicity  was  the  main  factor  in  arranging 
the  order  for  the  child  rather  than  a  list  of  types, 

39 


40    How  Children  Made  Instruments 


or  the  historical  sequence  of  development.  All  of 
my  pupils  continued  to  use  percussion  instruments 
after  they  were  playing  both  wind  and  stringed 
instruments,  and  the  three  types  were  not  isolated 
one  from  the  other. 

When  children  came  to  me  too  young  to  be 
interested  in  the  "whys"  of  things  and  too  young 
to  handle  tools  in  the  making  of  instruments,  I 
made  no  attempt  to  have  them  follow  the  experi- 
ments here  outlined,  which  were  carried  out  by 
children  from  five  to  nine  years  of  age.  The 
younger  children  played  upon  all  the  instruments 
in  the  order  of  their  degree  of  difficulty  without 
any  thought  of  how  they  were  made — merely 
acquiring  musical  experiences — and  later  took  up 
the  making  of  them. 

PERCUSSION  INSTRUMENTS 

The  Drum  Stage. — Since  all  children,  whether 
they  seem  to  be  musical  or  not,  love  to  beat  some- 
thing and  make  a  noise,  this  tendency  presented 
itself  as  one  means  of  developing  the  rhythmic 
sense.  After  having  the  child  use  his  hands  and 
feet  in  the  making  of  rhythmic  sounds,  my  next 
step  was  to  stimulate  his  curiosity  about  the  kinds 


5.    A  Sleigli-bell  Melody,  (Hollow  Stump  Drum  Below) 


How  Children  Made  Instruments  41 


of  sounds  that  were  produced  when  different 
surfaces  were  struck,  leading  from  flat  surfaces  to 
the  resonant  sound  of  concave  and  hollow  bodies.  I 
had  procured  for  my  studio  an  imitation  hollow 
stump  made  from  a  tree  section  (see  Fig.  5)  and  a 
hollow  log,  and  the  children  were  interested  in  the 
sound  produced  by  striking  these.  As  drums  were 
already  within  their  experience,  they  naturally 
thought  of  drums,  and  each  child  wanted  one.  The 
suggestion  that  they  might  be  able  to  make  drums 
was  received  with  delight,  and  no  stimulation  of 
interest  was  needed.  The  discussion  of  what  we 
would  use  to  make  them,  and  how  we  would  make 
them,  aroused  their  curiosity  and  led  to  the  investi- 
gation of  what  primitive  and  other  people  had 
used  to  make  drums,  and  what  available  material 
there  was  for  us.  Pictures  and  a  trip  to  the 
museum  gave  them  definite  ideas.  We  found  that 
many  things  could  be  used  of  which  we  had  never 
thought  in  this  connection.  One  child  made  a 
kettle-drum  from  a  chopping  bowl,  another  from  a 
cocoanut  shell ;  a  spice  box  proved  the  right  size  for 
a  tabor,  which  is  really  a  small  drum.  We  used 
gourds,  butter  tubs,  and  even  stone  bowls  from  the 
kitchen.  Very  pretty  barrel  drums  were  made 
from  birch  bark,  and  also  from  kegs.    Our  greatest 


42    How  Children  Made  Instruments 


problem  was  to  find  the  vibrating  membrane  to 
stretch  across  the  body  of  the  drum.  At  first  we 
procured  pieces  of  real  drum  skin  from  a  music 
store,  but  we  found  that  we  could  make  cloth 
answer  very  well  by  using  aviator's  linen,  covered 
with  a  coat  of  shellac.  The  children  were  very 
impatient  to  use  their  new  drums,  and  could  hardly 
wait  until  they  were  finished.  They  used  them  in 
beating  song  and  dance  rhythms,  in  echoing  the 
rhythms  of  melodies  played  by  others,  and  in 
improvising  rhythms.  They  were  interested  in 
the  drum  codes  of  savages,  and  made  drum  codes 
of  their  own. 

A  wooden  pencil  box  with  a  marble  in  it  brought 
forth  the  suggestion  that  a  kind  of  drum  could  be 
made  with  the  noise  produced  inside.  We  found 
some  gourds  with  long  handles,  and  by  putting  a 
few  hard  pebbles  inside  them  and  closing  them  up 
again,  we  made  some  very  fine  rattles.  The  chil- 
dren used  these  rattles  for  rhythms  by  shaking  them. 
The  spice  box,  which  one  child  had  used  to  make  a 
tabor,  had  a  cover  with  a  rim  about  an  inch  wide. 
A  little  boy  found  this  cover  which  had  been  dis- 
carded, and  the  circular  rim  offered  such  tempting 
possibilities  that  he  soon  conceived  the  idea  of 
making  a  tambourine.    All  it  needed  was  a  wet 


How  Children  Made  Instruments  43 


sheep  skin  stretched  across  the  rim  and  fastened 
all  around  with  thumb  tacks.  Just  for  fun,  he 
tied  a  few  tiny  sleigh  bells  to  the  rim  to  make  a 
metallic  sound  like  the  real  tambourine. 

By  this  time  the  children  had  had  some  experi- 
ence in  tone  as  well  as  rhythm,  and  had  evolved 
the  beginnings  of  melody  in  their  singing,  so  they 
were  ready  for  tone  experiences  in  their  playing. 
I  told  them  about  the  musical  stones  of  the  ancient 
Chinese,  and  they  tried  to  find  sound  in  stone. 
The  nearest  approach  to  musical  stones  which  I 
could  find  was  a  resonant  piece  of  metal,  so  we  next 
investigated  the  sound  of  metal  when  struck. 
Three  metal  bars,  which  I  had  previously  had 
made  for  me — tuned  to  whole  step  intervals — 
constituted  our  first  real  instrument  with  definite 
tone,  and  had  all  the  scope  that  was  required  to 
play  the  primitive  three-note  songs  which  they  had 
by  this  time  learned  to  sing.  (Some  of  these  songs 
will  be  found  in  Chapter  VII.) 

The  musical  quality  of  the  metal  suggested  hells 
to  the  minds  of  the  children,  and  this  led  to  experi- 
ments with  all  the  bells  we  could  find.  We  inquired 
into  the  reasons  for  the  different  tones  of  different 
bells  and  drew  conclusions  as  to  the  effect  of  their 
size  on  the  sound  of  bells,  and  also  as  to  the  tonal 


44   How  Children  Made  Instruments 


effect  of  length  in  the  case  of  the  metal  bars.  We 
found  in  our  varied  collection  three  bells  whose 
tones  were  a  whole  step  apart,  and  on  these  they 
also  played  the  three-note  songs  they  knew.  We 
discussed  bells  and  church  chimes  and  I  told  them 
a  few  bell  stories.  Someone  thought  of  sleigh  bells 
and  they  were  produced  and  examined.  I  had  a 
bell-maker  make  for  me  a  set  of  sleigh  bells  tuned 
to  the  diatonic  scale  and  also  a  set  of  Swiss  bells 
without  clappers.  At  this  stage  we  could  use  the 
first  three  notes  of  each  set.  We  discussed  the 
difference  in  the  way  the  tone  was  produced  in  the 
three  metal  instruments — bars,  Swiss  bells,  and 
sleigh  bells.  I  found  in  a  music  store  a  Turkish 
tubaphone,  which  was  also  of  great  interest  as 
showing  another  way  in  which  metal  could  be  used 
to  make  tones,  and  the  children  played  their 
melodies  on  this  new  instrument. 

It  was  at  about  this  stage  that  one  of  the  children 
brought  me  a  musical  instrument  of  her  own 
invention.  It  consisted  of  three  silver  spoons  of  dif- 
ferent sizes,  suspended  with  strings  from  a  wooden 
rod;  by  striking  them,  she  played  a  melody. 

The  children  were  now  singing  songs  that 
involved  the  pentatonic  scale,  sometimes  called 
the  Chinese  scale.    I  had  a  set  of  accurately  tuned 


How  Children  Made  Instruments  45 


Chinese  gongs  made  and  arranged  on  a  rod  so  the 
children  could  play  the  pentatonic  melodies  they 
knew.  I  had  foreseen  that  they  would  wish  to 
play  their  different  instruments  together,  so  the 
metal  instruments  were  all  pitched  in  the  same  key. 

The  children  use  soft  rubber  hammers  to  play 
all  of  the  above  instruments  (except  the  sleigh 
bells,  which  have  to  be  shaken).  This  requires  no 
finger  action,  but  a  free  movement  of  the  entire 
arm,  which  can  easily  be  controlled  by  a  small  child. 

Marimba. — Following  the  experiments  with 
metal  tones,  the  children  developed  a  wooden 
instrument  of  the  marimba  type.  They  were  led 
to  discover  that  wood  could  be  made  to  yield  tone, 
and  that  different  pieces  of  wood  differed  in  tone 
quality  and  pitch.  Experiments  followed,  showing 
that  the  tone  of  a  piece  of  wood  was  affected  both 
by  its  length  and  by  its  thickness,  and  with  a  little 
sawdust  the  children  found  the  nodal  points  of  the 
bars  of  wood.  These  discoveries  enabled  them  to 
plan  a  definite  instrument  of  three  notes,  to  tune 
the  wooden  bars  in  unison  with  the  metal  bars,  and 
to  set  this  new  instrument  up  in  proper  form  to  use 
in  our  gradually  enlarging  orchestra.  With  a  lit- 
tle wooden  hammer  each  child  played  a  three-note 
melody  on  the  instrument  he  had  made.    To  have 


46    How  Children  Made  Instruments 


made  an  instrument  producing  different  tones — one 
on  which  he  could  play  a  real  tune,  and  one  he 
could  use  in  our  orchestra — seemed  too  good  to  be 
true!  The  scope  of  the  instrument  made  by  each 
child  varied  according  to  his  age  and  development. 
The  youngest  children  made  those  of  three  notes, 
and  some  of  the  older  ones  extended  the  scale  to 
six,  eight,  and  twelve  notes. 

Glasses. — One  day  we  were  experimenting  with 
the  tones  of  different  objects  by  striking  everything 
we  could  find.  We  discovered  that  some  drinking 
glasses  gave  clear,  bell-like  sounds.  We  also  found 
by  experiment  that  we  could  alter  the  tones  of 
these  by  putting  water  in  the  glasses.  This  gave  us 
an  idea.  We  took  three  ordinary  drinking  glasses, 
put  different  quantities  of  water  in  them,  and  by 
regulating  the  amount  of  water,  found  that  we  could 
tune  them  to  our  three-note  scale  and,  by  merely 
striking  the  side  of  the  glass  with  a  pencil  or  stick, 
we  could  play  our  three-note  melodies  on  them. 
We  found  that  the  glasses  sounded  better  when  they 
rested  on  thick  cloth  instead  of  directly  on  the  wood 
of  the  table,  and  the  children  also  decided  that 
they  liked  the  tone  of  the  glass  better  when  the 
striking  hammer  was  either  made  of  very  soft 
pine  or  covered  with  felt.    They  were  very  en- 


How  Children  Made  Instruments  47 


thusiastic  over  the  glasses  and  soon  had  a  set  of  five 
tuned  to  the  pentatonic  scale,  and  were  playing 
their  pentatonic  melodies  on  them.  Later  they 
tuned  a  glass  for  the  fourth  step  of  the  diatonic 
scale  (which  they  were  now  using  in  their  songs) 
and  found  endless  delight  in  playing  their  little  folk- 
song melodies  on  this  six-note  glass  instrument. 

The  six  glasses  looked  very  much  alike.  It 
would  be  easier  for  us,  we  thought,  if  we  could 
find  some  way  of  distinguishing  them  quickly  as  we 
played,  so  we  decided  to  mark  the  first  and  the 
fourth  glass,  making  number  one  red  and  number 
four  blue  by  putting  red  and  blue  ink  in  the  water. 
(This  was  suggested  to  me  by  the  coloring  of  harp 
strings,  the  c's  being  red  and  the  fs  blue.)  This 
coloring  gave  the  glasses  another  attraction,  espe- 
cially for  very  young  children. 

The  silvery  tinkle  of  the  glasses  when  struck 
with  felt-covered  hammers  is  indeed  most  pleas- 
ing to  the  ear.  For  more  than  three  years  they 
have  been  in  daily  use  in  my  studio,  and  without 
exception,  the  children  of  all  ages  have  loved  them. 
Since  the  tonal  capacity  of  a  glass  is  only  a  few  notes, 
one  is  limited  to  a  small  range  unless  the  glasses 
themselves,  without  water,  differ  greatly  in  tone, 
and  for  that  reason  I  had  much  difficulty  in  obtain- 


48    How  Children  Made  Instruments 


ing  a  wide  range  of  pitch  in  my  glasses.  But 
by  long  continued  searching  in  the  stores,  I  was 
able  to  arrange  a  set  of  three  octaves. 

I  found  the  glasses  especially  well  suited  to  our 
first  ensemble  efforts,  for  when  two  or  more  sets 
were  tuned  alike,  there  was  not  much  difference  of 
tone  quality  to  disturb  the  children.  Later  they 
played  "trios"  in  the  three  different  octaves  with- 
out any  difficulty,  and  after  that  it  was  easy  to 
combine  the  different  instruments,  bells,  bars, 
glasses,  drums,  and  marimbas. 

The  experiments  in  the  studio  seemed  to  stimu- 
late the  children  to  make  investigations  of  their 
own  accord,  and  they  often  brought  to  me  instru- 
ments of  their  own  contriving.  One  day,  after 
the  children  had  learned  to  play  on  the  glasses,  a 
tiny  boy  of  five  urged  me  to  go  to  his  house  and  see 
an  instrument  he  had  made.  I  went  home  with 
him  and  he  proudly  exhibited  three  large  bottles  of 
water  (any  one  of  which  was  too  heavy  for  him  to 
bring  to  the  studio),  which  he  had  tuned  fairly 
well,  and  beaming  with  pleasure,  he  played  the 
Bear  Song  for  me.  He  had  not  only  made  the 
instrument,  but  the  idea  too  was  his  own  (so 
far  as  he  was  concerned) . 

Vibrating  Rods. — We  had  in  the  studio  a  set  of 


G.    Chinese  Gongs 


How  Children  Made  Instruments  49 


small  metal  rods  of  different  lengths,  fitted  at  one 
end  into  a  metal  stand.  When  these  rods  were 
struck  with  a  small  wooden  hammer,  their  vibra- 
tions made  pleasing  musical  sounds  that  varied  in 
pitch  according  to  the  length  of  the  rod.  As  these 
rods  had  been  tuned  to  diatonic  scale  intervals, 
they  constituted  for  the  children  another  instru- 
ment for  the  playing  of  their  simple  folk  songs. 

One  day  Florence  brought  to  me  with  great  pride 
a  musical  instrument  of  her  own  discovery  which 
was  neither  a  wind,  stringed,  nor  percussion  instru- 
ment. It  was  a  large  thorny  cactus  plant  which 
grew  in  a  pot  in  her  mother's  window.  She  had 
discovered  that  the  long  thorns  on  it  would  vibrate 
and  make  musical  sounds  when  she  flipped  them; 
also  that  their  tones  were  not  all  alike.  By  care- 
fully trying  them  out  she  had  found  three  thorns  that 
approximated  the  first  three  tones  of  the  scale  and 
she  proudly  played  for  me  a  real  melody  on  the  cac- 
tus plant !  What  better  proof  that  the  world — even 
the  barren  western  prairie — is  rich  in  musical  possi- 
bilities if  we  only  have  eyes  to  see  and  ears  to  hear! 

WIND  INSTRUMENTS 

In  the  beginning  of  my  research,  the  subject  of 
wind  instruments  for  children  had  presented  a 

4 


50   How  Children  Made  Instruments 


bafBing  front.  Tin  horns  and  penny  whistles 
seemed  at  first  to  be  the  only  available  material 
suited  to  their  use.  I  had  thought  of  willow 
whistles,  such  as  my  brothers  used  to  make,  but 
they  were  practicable  only  in  the  springtime. 
What  I  most  wanted  was  a  reed  that  children  could 
use  to  make  pipes  of  Pan.  Bamboo  canes,  such 
as  are  used  for  fishing  rods,  occurred  to  me,  but  I 
found  the  openings  so  small  and  the  reeds  so  hard 
to  cut  that  the  bamboo  seemed  hardly  practicable 
for  children.  So  day  after  day  I  searched  the  woods 
and  lowlands.  I  found  a  tall  jointed  rush  that 
gave  a  clear  note  when  one  blew  across  it,  but  the 
rushes  shriveled  quickly  and  were  useless  in  a  few 
days  after  pulling  them.  All  hollow  grasses 
seemed  quite  unsuited.  I  tried  elder  branches  but 
the  pith  was  too  hard  to  get  out.  Corn  stalks, 
wheat  straw,  sorghum,  all  had  their  disadvantages. 
Finally  my  search  was  rewarded,  and  I  found  a 
reed  that  Pan  himself  could  not  have  improved 
upon.  The  plant  is  called  the  Japanese  fleece 
flower,  and  will  grow  in  both  dry  and  damp  places. 
The  shrub  comes  up  in  the  spring  and  by  late 
summer  the  stems  are  full  grown,  and  hollow, 
except  at  the  joints.  They  vary  from  the  tiniest 
tubes  to  an  inch  and  a  half  in  diameter.    They  are 


How  Children  Made  Instruments  51 


easily  cut,  both  when  green  and  dry,  and  if  per- 
fectly dry  when  tuned,  they  will  stay  in  approxi- 
mate tune  for  years.  The  finding  of  this  plant  was 
the  solution  of  more  than  one  problem.  I  discov- 
ered that  many  kinds  of  wind  instruments  could  be 
made  of  it,  not  only  pipes  of  Pan,  but  trumpets, 
shepherd's  pipes,  flutes,  clarinets,  tches,  and  neys. 

Pipes  of  Pan. — Those  children  who  took  up  the 
study  of  wind  instruments  in  the  fall  went  with 
me  to  see  the  plants  and  to  cut  the  dried  stems  from 
where  they  had  grown.  We  cut  the  reed  into 
pieces,  leaving  a  joint  at  one  end  of  each  piece. 
The  children  discovered  how  a  tone  could  be  made 
(by  blowing  directly  across  the  open  end) ,  and  they 
also  found  by  experiment  that  the  tone  of  the  pipe 
was  affected  by  its  length,  but  not  very  much  by 
its  diameter.  So  they  cut  long  pipes  for  the  low 
tones  and  shorter  ones  for  the  higher  tones,  and  did 
not  stop  until  each  child  had  tuned  a  set  of  three 
pipes.  Then  they  marched  proudly  home,  piping 
Hot  Cross  Buns  all  the  way. 

Throughout  the  work  I  have  given  the  children 
stories  and  musical  legends  at  the  time  when  their 
own  experiences  were  in  some  way  similar  to  those 
in  the  story.  At  this  time  the  story  of  Pan  and  the 
first  musical  pipes  was  vivid  and  real  to  them. 


52    How  Children  Made  Instruments 


After  having  learned  how  to  tune  the  pipes  to 
three  tones,  it  was,  of  course,  easy  for  them  to 
enlarge  their  instrument  by  adding  other  tones  of 
the  scale,  according  to  the  range  of  the  songs  which 
they  could  play.  One  day  a  child  discovered  that 
water  in  a  pipe  had  the  same  effect  as  making  the 
pipe  shorter.  This  led  to  trying  other  experi- 
ments, and  the  children  found  that  one  could  easily 
tune  the  pipes  or  raise  the  pitch  by  putting  sand  or 
rice  in  them.  They  were  interested  to  know  that 
some  savages  had  tuned  their  pipes  with  dried 
peas.  For  convenience  in  holding  the  pipes,  we 
tied  them  together  (see  Fig.  9),  and  in  blowing, 
I  had  the  children  hold  them  with  the  lowest  note 
to  the  left.  In  fact,  all  their  instruments  were 
arranged  in  that  position  so  that  later  when  they 
should  reach  modern  instruments  with  keyboards, 
their  sense  of  the  lateral  direction  of  low  and  high 
notes  would  be  already  established.  I  have  been 
interested  to  observe  that  as  a  rule  children  seem 
to  get  a  tone  from  the  pipes  of  Pan  more  easily 
than  adults  who  have  never  blown  an  instrument. 

Just  as  they  had  experimented  before  by  striking 
things,  the  children  now  tried  blowing  everything 
that  could  be  blown  at  all,  and  their  experiments 
revealed  many  facts.    They  blew  across  bottles 


How  Children  Made  Instruments  53 


and  found  that  the  tone  of  a  bottle  as  a  wind  instru- 
ment could  be  changed  by  putting  water  in  it;  so 
they  made  a  set  of  "  bottle  pipes  of  Pan"  and  played 
upon  it.  It  was  interesting  to  discover  that  water 
in  the  bottle  lowered  the  tone  produced  by  percus- 
sion, but  raised  the  tone  produced  by  blowing. 
The  older  children  were  very  curious  about  the 
reason  for  this.  They  loved  the  deep  tone  that 
came  from  blowing  across  the  mouth  of  a  jug,  and 
they  experimented  with  jugs  of  different  sizes. 
Even  the  clock  key  was  found  to  possess  a  musical 
tone,  and  the  long  valve  cup  of  an  automobile  tire 
was  a  very  good  pipe  of  Pan. 

Trumpets. — It  was  easy  to  blow  things  that 
were  open  at  only  one  end,  but  what  abput  reeds 
and  other  things  that  were  open  at  both  ends?  Was 
there  any  way  to  get  music  out  of  them.'^  We  fi- 
nally made  the  discovery  that  by  letting  the  lips 
flutter  together  inside  one  end  of  the  reed  we 
could  produce  a  musical  sound.  A  little  practice 
soon  brought  out  a  fine  trumpet  tone.  Wc  selected 
our  largest  reeds,  and  with  a  slender  stick  pushed 
out  the  pith  at  all  the  joints.  We  discovered  that 
the  tone  of  the  trumpet  depended  on  the  length  of 
the  reed,  and  we  could  regulate  it  to  some  extent  by 
cutting  off  the  reed.    We  made  three  trumpets, 


54   How  Children  Made  Instruments 


tuned  a  step  apart,  and  three  children,  each  with  a 
trumpet,  could  play  a  three-note  tune,  each  child 
bringing  in  his  note  when  it  was  needed  in  the  tune. 
This  was  great  fun,  and  led  to  combining  more 
children  with  more  notes.  The  impulse  now  seemed 
to  be  to  make  trumpets  of  everything  we  could 
find,  and  soon  we  had  a  cow  horn  trumpet,  several 
shapes  of  gourd  trumpets,  cardboard  mailing  tubes, 
rolls  of  paper,  rubber  hose,  a  brass  tube,  and  what 
not,  all  producing  musical  tones.  The  children 
enjoyed  comparing  the  tones  of  these  as  to  pitch 
and  quality,  and  the  older  ones  identified  the  pitch 
of  each  one  at  the  piano. 

One  boy  expressed  the  wish  to  play  more  than 
one  tone  on  his  trumpet,  and  that  was  the  signal 
for  a  further  experiment  that  resulted  in  a  trumpet 
capable  of  yielding  several  tones.  The  delight  of  the 
child  was  great,  and  he  trumpeted  his  three-  and 
four-note  melodies  with  much  gusto.  We  found  that 
it  took  a  steady  and  controlled  breath  pressure  to 
keep  the  tone  even  and  true.  This  gave  us  the  idea 
of  timing  ourselves  to  see  how  long  we  could  sustain 
an  unwavering  tone.  Several  children  acquired  in 
a  short  time  sufficient  breath  control  to  sustain  a 
tone  for  twenty-five  to  thirty  seconds. 

Someone  went  to  the  seashore  and  brought  back 


How  Children  Made  Instruments  55 


several  long  Triton  sea  shells.  I  told  the  children 
of  the  uses  that  primitive  peoples  had  made  of  sea 
shells,  and  they  were  eager  to  make  trumpets  of 
these  and  try  the  sounds.  We  bored  a  hole  in  the 
side  of  one  (see  Fig.  16),  and  in  another  the  apex 
was  cut  off  to  make  the  hole.  They  had  tones  that 
were  lovely  but  rather  loud  for  a  city  studio,  and 
lest  we  should  disturb  other  people,  we  did  not  use 
them  as  much  as  we  would  have  liked  to  do.  Once 
we  had  an  opportunity  to  play  them  in  the  country, 
and  it  was  an  exliilarating  experience. 

Gourds  grow  in  many  fantastic  shapes  and  make 
delightful  trumpets.  Some  that  we  made  were 
veritable  shofars  like  those  of  ancient  Hebrew 
ritual,  and  had  clear  ringing  tones.  We  also  made 
birch-bark  trumpets  that  were  interesting  both  to 
make  and  to  use. 

The  Shepherd's  pipe  is  another  reed  instrument 
in  which,  by  the  use  of  holes,  several  tones  can  be 
made  on  one  reed.  The  tone  is  generated,  not  by 
blowing  across  it,  or  by  fluttering  the  lips,  but  by 
blowing  directly  into  a  whistle  mouthpiece  at  one 
end  of  the  reed.  In  the  case  of  the  dry  reeds  which 
we  used,  the  mouthpiece  was  fitted  into  the  reed, 
and  was  made  much  as  the  mouthpiece  of  the 
willow  whistles  or  elder  whistles  which  boys  make 


56    How  Children  Made  Instruments 


in  the  springtime.  I  found  that  small  children 
could  not  use  a  knife  well  enough  to  make  a  whistle 
mouthpiece,  but  if  made  by  an  older  child,  they 
could  play  on  these  pipes  very  well. 

Flageolets. — I  also  found  some  very  good  metal 
pipes  of  French  make  which  the  children  could 
play  quite  easily.  They  are  the  same  as  shepherd's 
pipes  except  that  they  are  made  of  metal.  In 
order  that  the  children  might  experience  melody- 
playing  in  the  very  beginning,  and  gradually 
acquire  the  finger  technic  of  the  flageolet,  I  had 
them  use  at  first  only  the  two  upper  holes  of  the 
instrument.  Two  fingers  down  produced  No.  1; 
one  finger  down  produced  No.  2;  all  the  holes  open 
produced  No.  3;  and  thus  by  using  two  fingers  they 
could  play  three-note  melodies.  These  tones  are 
meant  to  be  numbers  5,  6,  and  7  of  the  scale  of 
the  instrument,  but  serve  equally  well,  as  1,  2, 
and  3  in  another  key;  and  little  hands  that  could 
not  manipulate  six  finger-holes  could  easily  manage 
two,  and  complete  an  accurate  melody.  In  a  sur- 
prisingly short  time  even  the  very  small  children 
learned  to  manipulate  all  six  holes  with  ease, 
and  to  coordinate  their  blowing  with  their  finger 
movements. 

It  was  with  the  flageolet  that  I  tried  my  first 


7.    Swiss  Bells 


How  Children  Made  Instruments  57 


experiments  in  having  the  children  coordinate  foot 
movements  with  their  own  melody  playing,  for  the 
flageolet  was  so  easily  carried  about.  At  first  they 
marched  and  played  at  the  same  time.  The  older 
ones  played  skipping  tunes  and  skipped  at  the  same 
time,  and  some  of  them  found  that  they  could 
control  their  muscular  movements  well  enough  to 
play  the  flageolet  with  one  hand,  the  drum  with  the 
other,  and  march  at  the  same  time.  Little  Eliza- 
beth, aged  six,  was  impressed  by  an  account  of  the 
pipers  in  the  days  of  Merrie  England,  who  danced 
from  village  to  village  playing  both  pipe  and 
tabor;  and  fired  by  her  own  curiosity  to  see  if  it 
could  be  done,  worked  it  out  alone  and  was  soon 
skipping  away  to  ^  pulse,  playing  a  melody  of 
sustained  tones  in  the  same  pulse  on  her  flageolet 
with  her  breath  and  left  hand,  and  at  the  same  time 
beating  the  accents  on  the  tabor  with  her  right 
hand, — a  well  adjusted  triple  coordination. 

Ocarina. — Any  child  who  has  played  the  flageo- 
let will  be  able  to  play  the  ocarina  (a  simple  primi- 
tive instrument  made  of  clay)  without  difficulty. 
The  principle  involved  is  the  same  as  that 
employed  by  the  boy  who  blows  a  note  through  his 
hands  held  in  a  cupped  position  to  his  mouth.  As 
in  the  case  of  the  flageolet,  the  smaller  children 


58    How  Children  Made  Instruments 


started  with  the  higher  notes,  requiring  the  use  of 
fewer  fingers,  for  the  lowest  note  on  the  ocarina  is 
tlie  hardest  of  all  for  children  to  make.  The  oca- 
rina is  a  fascinating  instrument  when  well  played, 
and  even  small  children  soon  learn  to  use  it  well. 
It  is  made  in  several  sizes,  the  smaller  ones,  of 
course,  being  better  for  children.  It  is  especially 
suitable  for  playing  bird  songs.  I  use  the  high  G 
ocarina  for  most  bird  songs,  but  the  low  G  gives 
a  remarkably  true  imitation  of  the  dove's  song  and 
other  low-toned  bird  songs. 

Oboe. — Our  experiments  with  oat  and  wheat 
straws  led  to  the  discovery  of  the  principle  of  the 
double  reed.  By  flattening  the  end  of  the  straw 
and  blowing  through  it,  the  two  sides  vibrated 
together  and  produced  a  tone.  Holes  in  the  straw, 
burned  with  a  hot  wire,  enabled  us  to  get  sev- 
eral tones.  A  paper  drinking  straw  from  the  soda 
fountain  made  an  excellent  hautboy,  a  double  reed 
instrument,  the  ancestor  of  our  modern  oboe. 

An  interesting  double  reed  instrument  which  any 
child  can  make  and  play  upon  in  the  summer  is  a 
squash-leaf  oboe.  Our  summer  experiments  with 
this  gave  us  much  pleasure.  To  make  this,  the  leaf 
with  its  stem  is  cut  from  the  plant,  leaving  the  hol- 
low stem  intact.    Then  at  the  leaf  end  a  slit  about 


How  Children  Made  Instruments  59 


an  inch  long  is  made  in  the  stem.  By  inserting 
this  entirely  in  the  mouth  and  blowing  through  it, 
the  two  slit  surfaces  are  made  to  vibrate  together, 
creating  a  reedy  sound.  A  hole  about  one  eighth 
of  the  length  of  the  stem  from  the  big  end  will 
produce  a  tone  about  a  whole  step  above  the 
fundamental.  Another  hole  at  nearly  the  same 
distance,  and  a  third  hole  about  half  that  distance 
from  the  second,  should  complete  the  first  four 
tones  of  the  diatonic  major  scale.  Several  squash- 
leaf  stems  can  be  cut  until  they  will  produce  like 
tones,  and  they  can  then  be  used  to  make  an 
interesting  squash-leaf  ensemble.  If  kept  in  water 
when  not  in  use,  these  instruments  will  last  for  a 
few  days.  It  is  best  to  be  satisfied  with  three  or 
four  tones,  for  it  is  difiicult  to  make  the  higher 
tones  of  the  scale  come  true. 

Another  one  of  our  summer  experiments  was  the 
Petunia-blossom  oboe.  We  removed  the  pistil  from 
the  flower,  put  two  pinholes  in  the  side  of  the  tube, 
and  by  blowing  through  it  the  children  could  play 
three-note  melodies.  This  delicate  little  instru- 
ment gave  out  tones  that  both  surprised  and 
delighted  them. 

We  also  made  a  single  beating  reed  instrument 
from  a  wheat  straw — a  primitive  Clarinet.  Holes 


6o    How  Children  Made  Instruments 


in  the  straw  enabled  us  to  make  several  notes. 
Another  primitive  clarinet  was  made  of  a  piece  of 
wood  hollowed  out  like  a  tiny  trough  with  one  end 
cut  off.  A  thin  piece  of  wood  cut  the  shape  of  a 
clarinet  reed  was  fitted  over  this  and  the  thick  end 
of  the  reed  tied  to  the  trough  near  its  open  end. 
This  has  been  called  an  Indian  Squaller.' 

Chinese  Tche. — We  found  that  a  hole  made  in  the 
middle  of  a  straight  open  reed  enabled  us  to  get  a 
pure  tone  by  blowing  directly  across  it.  In  experi- 
menting with  holes  near  the  two  ends  of  the  reed, 
we  discovered  how  we  could  make  very  satisfactory 
tones  of  the  major  scale.  This  kind  of  instrument 
was  long  ago  made  by  the  Chinese,  but  is  now 
obsolete.  The  home-made  ones,  however,  are 
interesting,  easy  to  make  and  not  difficult  to  play. 

The  Egyptian  Ney  is  another  obsolete  instrument 
which  we  resurrected.  It  is  a  straight  reed  open  at 
both  ends,  and  is  blown  across  the  top,  somewhat 
like  the  pipes  of  Pan.  It  has  a  little  notch  cut  in 
the  end  across  which  the  breath  is  directed,  and 
this  notch  divides  the  column  of  air  that  produces 
the  tone.  It  is  the  only  case  I  know  in  which  a 
tone  can  be  produced  in  an  open  reed  without  any 
kind  of  mouthpiece.    Holes  in  the  side  of  this 

'  The  author  is  indebted  to  Mr.  L.  A.  Hcrr  for  this  instrument. 


How  Children  Made  Instruments  6i 


reed  give  the  different  tones.  This  instrument  was 
interesting  as  an  experiment,  but  it  was  rather 
diflficult  for  many  of  the  children  to  get  the  air 
column  directed  exactly  right  for  playing  it. 

Cornstalk  fife. — One  day  I  found  a  piece  of  corn- 
stalk about  ten  inches  long  and  one  half  inch  in 
diameter,  and  brought  it  to  the  studio.  It  was 
soon  converted  into  a  fife.  We  ran  a  hot  wire 
through  it  to  burn  out  the  pith,  closed  one  end 
with  paraffin,  burned  a  hole  near  the  closed  end  for 
blowing,  and  two  others  near  the  other  end,  and  in 
a  very  short  time  the  children  were  playing  a  three- 
note  melody  on  this  little  bit  of  cornstalk. 

Flutes. — The  flute  proper  is  a  transverse  instru- 
ment with  the  embouchure  (hole  for  blowing)  near 
the  closed  end.  The  fife  and  piccolo  belong  to  the 
flute  family.  Our  primitive  reed  flutes  were  made 
of  large  reeds  about  twenty  to  thirty  inches  long. 
We  selected  very  straight  ones  and  pushed  out  the 
pith  from  the  inside  joints,  and  closed  one  end 
with  a  cork.  The  holes  we  burned  in  the  reed  gave 
us  an  embouchure  and  finger  holes  by  means  of 
which  we  could,  after  a  little  practice,  produce 
our  simple  melodies  in  soft,  flute-like  tones. 

Their  experiences  with  these  reed  instruments 
gave  the  children  an  interest  in  all  kinds  of  flutes, 


62    How  Children  Made  Instruments 


and  some  of  them  solved  the  problems  of  the 
Chinese  flute  (employing  the  whole-tone  scale) 
sujBBciently  to  play  a  few  melodies  on  it.  The  six- 
key  cd  flute  was  by  this  time  easy  for  them  to 
understand  and  to  play,  as  was  also  the  six-keyed 
piccolo. 

This  led,  naturally,  to  an  interest  in  the  flutes  of 
our  modern  orchestra,  and  to  an  investigation  of 
the  Boehm  flute  with  its  improved  system  of  keys. 
Experience  with  flutes  of  the  old  kind  made  them 
realize  the  reason  for  this  mechanism  and  appreci- 
ate it.  Before  the  end  of  the  third  year  of  this 
work,  two  children  of  the  group  had  already 
selected  the  flute  as  their  chosen  instrument, 
having  had  large  experience  in  all  types  of 
instruments. 

STRINGED  INSTRUMENTS 

The  simplest  stringed  instrument  is,  perhaps,  a 
hunter's  bow.  To  make  a  bow  and  arrow  and  listen 
for  the  sound  of  the  string  as  the  arrow  was  shot, 
was  our  first  work  in  strings.  Then  we  found  a 
thin  board  like  a  barrel  stave,  fastened  a  string  to 
one  end,  bored  a  hole  in  the  other  end,  and  fitted  a 
peg  into  it.  The  free  end  of  the  string  was  fastened 
to  the  peg  so  that  the  string  could  be  tightened  by 


How  Children  Made  Instruments  63 


turning  the  peg.  We  called  this  a  tension  bow, 
because  it  gave  us  an  opportunity  to  observe  the 
effects  of  tension  on  the  tone  of  the  string.  The 
children  discovered  that  the  greater  the  tension  of 
the  string  the  higher  the  pitch  of  the  tone. 

Primitive  Harps. — It  seemed  to  me  that  the  next 
step  in  the  development  of  stringed  instruments  for 
the  children  should  be  a  curved  arc  frame,  strong 
enough  to  hold  its  shape  while  two  or  three  strings 
of  different  lengths  were  stretched  across  it.  With 
this  I  wanted  to  give  the  children  an  opportunity 
to  observe  the  difference  in  pitch  of  strings  of  differ- 
ent lengths — using  strings  of  the  same  size  and 
approximately  the  same  tension.  The  great  prob- 
lem was  to  find  something  curved  and  strong 
enough  to  hold  its  curve  against  the  inward  pull  of 
three  strings.  This  problem  had  caused  much 
puzzling  when  I  first  planned  these  experiments 
until  I  suddenly  thought  of  the  rim  of  a  wagon 
wheel.  At  once  I  explored  a  wheel  factory  and 
found  that  the  circular  rim  (or  feller)  was  in  two 
pieces,  and  was  made  of  very  strong  hard  wood, 
steamed  and  bent  by  machinery  into  a  curve  that 
was  as  strong  and  inflexible  as  one  could  wish. 
One  semicircular  feller  split  in  two  made  two  harp 
frames.    We  strung  these  with  three  cotton  cords 


64    How  Children  Made  Instruments 


and  tuned  them  to  1,  2,  and  3  of  the  scale,  observing 
that  about  the  same  tension  for  each  produced  the 
different  notes,  the  difference  being  made  by  the 
length  of  the  strings.  This  instrument  turned 
out  to  be  a  veritable  shoulder  harp  like  that  of  the 
ancient  Egyptians,  for  the  children  discovered  that 
the  most  satisfactory  way  of  holding  it  was  on  the 
left  shoulder,  with  the  right  hand  free  to  play  it. 
When  played  on  the  shoulder  they  could  also  hear 
it  better,  the  tones  of  the  cotton  cords  being  very 
soft.  It  seems  that  the  Egyptians  often  used  their 
harps  on  the  shoulder  with  the  same  object  in 
view — that  is,  to  hear  their  own  playing. 

A  folding  coat  hanger  of  wood  furnished  us  the 
frame  for  a  triangle  harp,  and  showed  very  clearly 
the  effect  of  the  length  of  strings.  All  of  the 
strings  were  of  the  same  size,  but  all  of  different 
lengths.  In  this  case  I  used  a  violin  E  string, 
the  tone  of  which  the  children  liked  better  than 
the  twine  cords  of  the  shoulder  harp. 

The  habit  of  inquiring  into  the  musical  possi- 
bilities of  different  things  was  shown  when  one  of 
the  children  brought  into  the  studio  a  wish-bone 
from  her  dinner  table.  Of  course,  a  harp  was  the 
instrument  it  was  best  fitted  for.  We  stretched  a 
narrow  rubber  band  several  times  across  it,  pulled 


8.    A  Twelve-Xote  ^Mariinlia  I'layed  I)y  its  .Maker 


How  Children  Made  Instruments  65 


it  into  tune,  and  in  a  few  minutes  a  melody  was 
played  upon  this  tiny  wish-bone  harp.  This  gave 
the  children  an  idea  for  something  larger,  and  one 
of  them  brought  to  the  studio  several  small  tree 
branches  that  were  forked  and  had  the  same  shape 
as  the  wish-bone.  By  stretching  several  rubber 
bands  across  them,  they  produced  larger  and  more 
satisfactory  "wish-bone"  harps. 

The  next  step  was  to  make  an  instrument  with 
strings  of  different  sizes.  For  this  the  wheel  factory 
again  served  us,  and  the  strong  wooden  rim  used  for 
an  automobile  wheel  made  an  excellent  frame  for 
a  Theban  harp  (see  Figure  25).  For  this  instrument 
we  used  eight  real  harp  strings,  and  tuned  them  to 
the  diatonic  scale.  The  children  enjoyed  looking 
at  pictures  of  Egyptian  harp  players  and  experi- 
mented with  different  ways  of  holding  the  harp. 
The  position  shown  in  Figure  25  is  the  one  they 
found  most  comfortable  for  playing. 

In  experimenting  for  position,  one  little  girl  of 
eight  years  who  was  sitting  on  the  floor  with  the 
harp,  made  an  important  discovery.  She  rested 
one  arm  of  the  harp  on  the  floor  while  she  played, 
and  her  eyes  opened  wide  as  she  heard  the  sound 
of  the  strings  very  much  intensified.  Then  she 
turned  the  harp  over  and  touched  both  arms  of 

5 


66    How  Children  Made  Instruments 


it  to  the  floor  and  the  sound  was  even  louder! 
"Oh,  listen!  How  wonderful!"  she  exclahned;  and 
everybody  had  to  try  it.  Then  of  course  she 
wanted  to  brace  the  arms  of  the  harp  against 
everything  in  the  room  while  she  played  to  see  if 
5ome  other  surprising  thing  would  happen.  She 
tried  it  against  tiling,  glass,  windows,  stone, 
curtains,  plaster  wall,  mirror,  piano,  door  panels, 
and  tables.  She  liked  it  best  against  the  door,  or 
touching  the  piano.  It  seemed  that  flat  wood  made 
the  strings  sound  louder.  Then  we  discussed  the  way 
in  which  the  wood  took  up  the  vibrations  of  the 
strings,  vibrated  with  them,  and  so  made  the  sound 
louder.  And  thus  they  discovered  the  principle  of  the 
sounding  board.  They  held  the  harp  flat  against  the 
door  panel  to  play  it,  and  then  someone  had  an  idea. 
"Let  us  make  an  instrument  with  a  big  flat  board 
under  the  strings  and  fastened  there  to  stay!" 
"A  good  idea;  we'll  try  it." 

Chinese  Kin. — A  thin  flat  board  six  by  twelve 
inches  long  was  soon  found.  The  board  served 
as  a  frame  to  hold  the  strings  and  we  also  put  the 
peg  holes  in  the  same  board.  But  the  strings 
rattled  against  the  board  and  made  a  disagreeable 
sound.  How  could  that  be  remedied  .^^  Then  we 
found  that  by  putting  a  long  narrow  strip  under  the 


How  Children  Made  Instruments  67 


strings  at  both  top  and  bottom,  the  strings  were 
lifted  from  the  board  and  were  free  to  vibrate 
between  the  strips.  Thus  the  children  had  reached 
the  stage  of  bridges  in  the  development  of  stringed 
instruments.  And  what  should  they  call  this 
instrument  they  had  made,'*  In  reality  they  had 
made  an  instrument  of  the  same  type  as  the 
Chinese  kin:  strings  stretched  across  wood,  lifted 
by  bridges.  So  we  called  it  a  Chinese  kin,  and 
decided  to  tune  it  to  the  Chinese  scale  and  play  and 
improvise  pentatonic  melodies  on  it.  At  this  point 
a  few  Chinese  musical  legends  were  told  to  the 
children. 

The  Lyre. — The  development  of  the  lyre  began 
with  the  myth  about  Mercury  and  the  first  lyre. 
After  much  searching  I  had  acquired  a  tortoise 
shell  with  the  upper  and  lower  shells  still  holding 
firmly  together.  First,  for  sanitary  reasons,  I  var- 
nished it  inside  and  out,  and  then  stretched  a  rubber 
band  across  the  inside.  The  children  could  easily 
imagine  how  interested  Mercury  must  have  been  in 
the  sound  of  the  dried  ligaments.  We  saw  pictures 
of  tortoise  shell  lyres,  and  also  the  real  ones  in  the 
Museum.  We  had  an  extra  shell  which  I  had  found 
in  the  fish  market,  so  we,  too,  could  make  a  lyre. 
To  the  children  the  new  thing  about  the  lyre  was 


68    How  Children  Made  Instruments 


that  the  sound  intensifier  was  to  be  a  concave  body 
mstead  of  a  flat  surface.  We  saw  that  many  of  the 
early  lyres  in  the  Museum  had  skin  stretched  across 
the  concave  bodies  with  the  strings  passing  over 
the  skins.  We  wished  to  try  that,  so  we  made  a 
four-stringed  tortoise  shell  lyre  and  with  it  studied 
the  Greek  tetracliords,  and  improvised  four-note 
melodies. 

If  a  concave  surface  was  a  good  resonator, 
wouldn't  a  box  be  equally  good?  To  find  out,  we 
made  a  box  lyre.  For  this  we  used  a  cigar  box, 
with  a  hole  in  its  cover  and  a  strong  frame  around 
the  box.  On  this  lyre  we  used  wire  strings  and  the 
children  found  that  their  tones  were  louder  than 
those  of  the  other  strings  we  had  used. 

Greek  lyre. — W^hen  studying  the  lyre  we  were 
greatly  interested  in  the  Greeks,  and  in  many  of 
their  stories.  We  had  seen  so  many  pictures  of 
beautifully  curved  lyres  that  we  longed  for  one  of 
classic  design.  I  did  not  feel  that  these  children 
were,  as  yet,  sufficiently  experienced  in  the  use 
of  tools  to  make  the  thing  they  wanted,  so  I  drew  a 
design,  a  composite  picture  of  many  shapes  of 
lyres,  and  had  an  instrument  maker  try  it  out. 
Alterations  in  the  dimensions  were  made  in  several 
succeeding  lyres,  until  finally  one  resulted  which 


How  Children  Made  Instruments  69 


was  quite  satisfactory,  and  the  lyres  made  after 
this  pattern  have  been  a  source  of  great  pleasure  to 
the  children  of  all  ages  in  my  studio  for  these  three 
years.  They  are  strung  with  eleven  strings  and  the 
children  play  upon  them  almost  all  the  songs  they 
sing.  Often  their  first  harmony  experiments  are 
made  upon  the  lyre,  and  they  begin  their  study 
and  use  of  chords  on  this  instrument.  It  is  not 
surprising  that  the  Greeks  loved  the  lyre.  It  is 
simple  enough  for  the  smallest  children  who  come 
to  my  studio  (as  young  as  three  years  of  age)  and 
pleasing  enough  to  interest  the  oldest  ones  as  well. 
Although  this  classic  lyre  is  more  pleasing  to  the 
eye,  the  home-made  box  lyre  is  very  satisfactory, 
and  I  see  no  reason  why  any  boy  or  girl  who  can 
use  tools  should  not  have  one  of  these  simple 
home-made  instruments. 

Several  children  at  different  times,  and  without 
suggestion  from  anyone,  brought  me  little  instru- 
ments of  their  own  devising,  resembling  the  box 
lyre  type.  Many  of  them  were  made  with  rubber 
bands  stretched  across  cardboard  boxes  of  various 
shapes,  and  some  of  them  were  very  well  tuned. 

Psaltery. — Our  first  psaltery  was  really  an  old 
auto-harp  with  the  mechanism  taken  off  and  the 
strings  rearranged ;  and  this  made  an  excellent  one, 


70    How  Children  Made  Instruments 


for  the  psaltery  is  merely  a  flat  box  with  a  sound 
hole  or  holes,  and  strings  of  different  lengths 
stretched  across  it.  We  used  wire  strings  for  our 
psaltery.  Much  plucking  of  the  wire  strings 
proved  irritating  to  the  fingers  of  the  children,  so 
they  set  about  to  relieve  that  difficulty.  They  tried 
using  sticks  of  wood,  pencils,  nails,  and  various 
finger  substitutes,  and  finally  selected  as  their 
preference  the  quill  end  of  a  chicken  wing-feather, 
which,  indeed,  was  one  of  the  early  forms  of  the 
plectrum.  They  then  discontinued  the  use  of  the 
finger  on  the  psaltery,  having  actually  experienced 
a  reason  for  some  instruments  being  played  with  a 
plectrum. 

The  Lute — Some  historian  said  that  when  the 
lyre  got  a  neck,  the  lute  stage  had  come.  We  had 
used  a  cigar  box  with  a  hole  in  it  for  the  box  lyre. 
We  took  another  cigar  box,  and  instead  of  making  a 
frame  to  support  the  strings,  one  long  support  was 
run  through  the  center  of  the  box  and  the  strings 
attached  to  each  end  of  this  strip,  running  along 
almost  the  length  of  the  strip.  Although  in  the 
box  lyre  we  had  eight  strings,  in  this  instrument 
the  strip  was  wide  enough  for  only  three  peg  holes 
in  the  top,  so  we  could  have  only  three  strings. 
But  luckily  we  didn't  need  any  more,  for  when  the 


How  Children  Made  Instruments  71 


strings  were  tuned  and  little  bridges  in  place  to 
keep  the  strings  from  rattling  against  the  strip  of 
wood,  we  found  that  we  could  make  other  notes — 
in  fact,  we  could  finish  the  entire  scale,  by  pressing 
fingers  on  the  strings  and  making  the  parts  that 
vibrated  shorter  and  shorter.  This  was  our  Cigar- 
box  Lute.  The  three  strings  were  tuned  to  the 
major  triad  and  the  children  found  it  easy  to  play 
chords  as  well  as  melodies  on  it. 

An  interesting  experiment  with  an  instrument  of 
the  lute  type  was  made  with  a  long  Hercules  Club 
gourd.  This  gourd  had  a  hole  in  the  largest  part 
of  it  (see  Fig.  33).  After  it  left  the  garden  it  had 
served  as  a  birds'  nest  hanging  in  a  tree  and 
through  this  hole  the  birds  had  gone  in  aijd  out  to 
the  nest  inside.  The  gourd  was  brought  to  me 
with  bits  of  the  nest  still  in  it.  Without  changing 
the  gourd  in  any  way,  except  to  varnish  it,  the 
children  made  a  lute  of  it,  and  because  of  the 
history  of  the  gourd,  we  called  it  our  Birds'  Nest 
Lute. 

I  also  used  the  Irish  harp  in  my  experimental 
work  and  found  that  the  children  loved  to  play 
their  melodies  on  it.  Two-hand  harp  technic 
seemed  difficult  at  first  for  many  of  the  children, 
but  after  they  had  acquired  freedom  in  playing 


72    How  Children  Made  Instruments 


their  simple  melodies  with  their  thumbs  alone,  they 
gradually  brought  the  other  fingers  into  use. 

Banjo  —  The  lute  had  given  the  children  an 
interest  in  instruments  with  a  body  to  reinforce 
the  sound,  and  a  neck  on  which  to  control  the 
making  of  different  tones.  One  day  I  offered  them 
half  a  cocoanut  shell  and  asked  for  suggestions  as 
to  how  they  could  make  a  stringed  instrument  of 
that.  The  suggestions  that  resulted  led  to  the 
making  of  a  cocoanut  banjo  of  the  same  type  as 
those  made  by  oriental  peoples,  with  parchment 
covering  the  opening  of  the  shell.  As  in  the  case 
of  the  lute,  the  children  played  melodies  and  chords 
by  plucking  the  strings  with  their  fingers. 

The  sound  of  strings  stretched  over  parchment 
was  so  pleasing  to  the  children  that  they  wanted  to 
try  it  out  in  some  other  way.  A  round  butter  tub 
from  the  grocer's  (about  seven  inches  in  diameter) 
offered  a  tempting  shape.  The  bottom  was  pushed 
out,  and  with  the  lid  off  it  was  merely  a  circular 
band.  With  this  rim  as  a  frame  for  the  parch- 
ment, a  boy  of  nine  years  made  a  fine  butter  tub 
banjo  which  sounded  much  like  the  real  minstrel 
banjo. 

A  gourd  banjo  was  also  made  in  the  studio  by  using 
the  large  end  of  a  gourd  for  the  resonating  body. 


9.    Pipes  of  Tail 


How  Children  Made  lustruments  73 


Bowed  Instruments 


The  bow  and  arrow  hanging  on  the  wall  had 
been  quite  forgotten  in  the  interest  of  its  various 
musical  descendants  until  one  day  I  took  down 
the  bow  and  handed  it  to  a  child  who  was  play- 
ing the  cocoanut  banjo.  Without  my  sugges- 
tion he  drew  it  across  a  string,  making  a  thin 
squeaky  sound  that  interested  him  very  much.  I 
put  rosin  on  the  bow  string,  and  the  sound  was 
clearer.  Then  I  produced  a  real  violin  bow  and  the 
sound  was  much  more  pleasing.  One  difficulty, 
however,  prevented  its  use  on  any  string  of  the 
banjo  except  an  outside  one,  for  the  child  could  not 
pull  the  bow  across  the  middle  string  without  strik- 
ing all  three.  Accustomed  to  finding  a  way  out  of 
difficulties,  he  contrived  a  new  bridge,  one  that  was 
higher  in  the  middle  than  at  the  sides.  When  the 
three  strings  were  stretched  over  this  he  found  that 
he  could  draw  his  bow  over  each  of  the  strings 
separately.  Thus,  by  merely  changing  the  bridge, 
he  had  converted  his  cocoanut  banjo  into  a  cocoa- 
nut  fiddle.  Then  he  wanted  to  make  a  horse  hair 
how;  so  I  procured  a  bunch  of  horse  hairs  from  a 
bow  maker  and  he  fastened  them  to  a  curved  stick, 
rosined  them  well,  and  his  bow  was  ready.    A  loop 


74    How  Children  Made  Instruments 


at  one  end  allowed  him  to  relieve  the  tension  on 
the  stick  when  the  bow  was  not  in  use. 

The  logical  result  of  the  discovery  of  the  use  of 
the  bow  on  the  cocoanut  banjo  was  the  desire  to 
make  an  instrument  especially  for  bowing.  The 
children  were  content  to  have  only  one  string  at 
first  until  they  learned  to  use  the  bow  with  good 
results,  for  by  this  time  they  knew  how  to  manipu- 
late one  string  to  produce  several  tones.  Following 
the  natural  development  of  musical  instruments, 
this  new  instrument  was  destined  to  be  a  Mono- 
chord.  We  used  a  large,  deep  cigar  box,  and  put 
a  strong  stick  through  it;  cut  /  holes  (like  other 
bowed  instruments  we  had  seen)  and  stretched  a 
violin  D  string  over  a  high  bridge.  (See  Figure  37.) 
In  the  last  stages  we  were  almost  breathless  with  the 
impatience  to  see  what  the  monochord's  tone  would 
be.  Finally  it  was  ready  to  speak  for  the  first 
time,  and  we  stood  around  it  in  ceremonious  awe. 
Its  maker  (a  little  girl  of  eight),  radiant  with 
excitement,  drew  the  bow  slowly  across  the  string. 
'* Oh ! "  everyone  cried  at  once.  "How  beautiful ! " 
"What  a  lovely  tone!"  And  thereon  the  work- 
bench lay  that  wonderful  singing  Thing,  ready  to 
give  out  its  voice  to  any  child  who  wished  to  draw 
the  bow  across  it.    No  other  instrument  we  had 


How  Children  Made  Instruments  75 


made  had  been  quite  the  revelation  that  this  one 
was.  There  seemed  something  quite  human  about 
it,  and  the  children  danced  around  it  in  ecstatic 
glee,  taking  turns  at  trying  its  tone.  We  found 
that  the  easiest  way  to  play  this  instrument  was 
to  hold  it  firmly  between  the  knees.  This  gave 
room  for  free  arm  movement. 

Soon  after  this  a  little  maid  of  six  had  an  inspira- 
tion. She  also  would  make  a  monochord,  and 
would  bring  it  to  me  as  a  surprise!  So  she  set  to 
work  to  find  materials.  Her  little  "Tilly  Tinker" 
(toy)  box  seemed  to  have  possibilities,  but  she  had 
no  cover  for  it.  Never  mind,  she  knew  there  were 
scraps  of  sheepskin  left  from  the  banjos,  and  surely 
there  was  a  piece  big  enough  to  cover  this  small 
box.  She  took  the  dimensions  and  shyly  asked  me 
for  a  scrap  the  right  size.  Other  diflSculties  were 
overcome;  she  asked  for  help  in  nailing  the  skin  to 
the  box,  and  finally  it  was  finished  and  strung 
with  scraps  of  violin  strings  tied  together!  She 
proudly  presented  it  to  me  and  was  delighted  when 
I  gave  her  a  string  for  it  all  in  one  piece.  It  had 
a  funny  little  tone  and  she  found  much  pleasure 
in  trying  to  see  how  many  different  sounds  she 
could  get  out  of  it.  In  experimenting  with  this, 
she  discovered  the  use  of  the  movable  bridge  and 


76   How  Children  Made  Instruments 


thereafter  played  her  tunes  on  it  by  slipping  the 
little  bridge  up  and  down  to  places  she  had  marked 
on  the  neck  of  the  instrument,  while  with  the  other 
hand  she  plucked  the  string  over  the  parchment 
(see  Figure  31). 

Inspired  also  by  Florence's  monochord,  Charles 
(age  nine)  would  go  even  further  and  make  an 
instrument  with  three  strings  to  be  played  upon 
with  the  bow.  He  would  make  a  cigar-box  cello 
out  of  the  biggest  cigar  box  he  could  possibly  find ! 
The  cello  proved  as  satisfactory  as  the  monochord, 
and  its  three  strings  made  its  possibilities  greater. 
Many  three-stringed  cellos  were  made  in  the  stu- 
dio, of  varying  sizes  and  with  great  varieties  of  tone. 
The  deep  cedar-wood  cigar  boxes  seemed  to  give 
the  best  tone. 

The  success  of  these  cigar-box  fiddles  seemed 
to  stimulate  the  children's  ambition  to  make  other 
kinds  of  bowed  instruments.  Elizabeth  was  the 
first  to  attempt  a  violin  to  be  held  at  the  shoulder. 
She  found  a  small  flat  cigar  box,  and  following, 
with  my  assistance,  the  same  plan  that  was  em- 
ployed in  making  the  cellos,  she  soon  had  a  cigar-box 
violin  which  she  could  hold  under  her  chin  and  play 
— real  violin  fashion!  This  instrument  also  had 
three  strings.    It  seemed  to  me  that  four  strings 


How  Children  Made  Instruments  77 


would  make  the  playing  a  little  too  difficult  for 
children  until  after  they  had  acquired  some  experi- 
ence in  the  use  of  an  instrument  with  strings  that 
were  more  easily  separated  than  four  strings  could 
be.  The  holding  of  the  instrument  and  the  proper 
use  of  the  bow  seemed,  to  my  mind,  hard  enough  at 
first,  without  having  undue  complications  in  keep- 
ing the  bow  from  striking  more  than  one  string  at  a 
time.  However,  since  they  had  used  the  bow  on 
the  monochord  and  cello,  its  use  in  the  violin 
position  did  not  present  any  great  difficulty,  and 
three  strings  were  easily  managed.  The  cigar-box 
violin  was  tuned  in  fifths  (as  were  the  cellos). 
After  Elizabeth  had  tried  out  her  new  violin  and 
played  a  few  melodies  on  it,  she  spontaneously 
hugged  it  to  her,  saying,  "Oh,  I  just  love  this  little 
fiddle!"  The  fiddle  was  truly  hers,  for  she  had 
made  it.    Of  course  she  loved  it. 

This  little  violin  served  as  a  model  for  other 
children  to  follow.  The  musical  possibilities  of 
these  instruments  were  patiently  investigated  by 
their  makers,  who  found  that  very  pleasing  results 
could  be  obtained. 

As  soon  as  there  were  two  instruments  to  be 
played  with  a  bow,  the  children  were  eager  to  play 
them  together,  and  by  the  end  of  the  second  year 


78    How  Children  Made  Instruments 


of  the  experiment,  we  had  a  delightful  quartet  of 
home-made  stringed  instruments.  This  quartet 
played  folk  songs  in  unison  and  in  four  parts; 
classic  melodies,  and  original  compositions. 

After  a  few  months'  use  of  her  cigar-box  violin, 
Santa  Claus  brought  Elizabeth  a  "real"  one,  and 
this  marked  an  important  point  in  her  musical 
development.  She  now  had  a  professionally  made 
violin  in  her  hands  for  the  first  time  in  her  life, 
and  yet  it  seemed  almost  a  well  known  friend.  She 
not  only  knew  at  once  the  reason  for  every  part  of 
its  construction,  but  was  able  to  appreciate  all 
the  advantages  it  had  over  her  own  crude  instru- 
ment: its  fine  polish,  slender  neck,  graceful  curves, 
and  especially  the  "scooped  out"  places  at  the  sides 
where  the  bow  could  have  freer  play.  The  instru- 
ment fell  naturally  into  place  under  her  chin,  and 
when  she  drew  her  bow  across  it  for  the  first  time, 
she  was  conscious  of  the  richness  and  fullness  of 
tone  which  she  had  not  been  able  to  produce  before 
and  she  marveled  at  the  violin  maker's  skill.  She 
possessed  the  background  of  knowledge  and  ex- 
perience which  gave  her  the  ability  to  appreciate 
at  once  its  finer  tone  quality  and  greater  musical 
possibilities,  and  to  discriminate  between  its  own 
good  and  bad  tones.  Although  nothing  but  a  "  real " 


How  Children  Made  Instruments  79 


violin  of  good  make  will  now  meet  her  musical 
needs,  she  still  holds  an  affectionate  regard  for  the 
object  of  her  own  handiwork — her  first  little  violin. 

When  the  time  came  for  Margaret  to  make  a 
violin,  she  wished  to  try  to  make  one  more  nearly 
like  the  new  violin  which  she  had  heard  Eliza- 
beth play.  She  used  thin  boards  of  Spanish  cedar 
wood,  and  made  the  box  instead  of  using  a  cigar 
box,  for  she  thought  that  a  deeper  box  might  have 
a  fuller  tone,  so  she  made  it  just  deep  enough  to  fit 
under  her  chin  without  the  use  of  a  chin  rest. 

A  peep  into  the  "real"  violin  showed  a  sound 
post  to  intensify  the  sound.  She  decided  to  try  a 
sound  post  also  and  see  what  happened.  A  little 
round  post  was  glued  to  stand  behind  the  bridge 
under  the  smallest  string,  and  under  the  largest 
string,  a  small  sounding  board  was  glued  to  the  box 
cover.  The  effect  of  these  additions  was  very 
pronounced,  and  Margaret's  violin  proved  to  be  a 
definite  step  in  advance  of  the  simpler  cigar-box 
fiddles.  Its  tone  quality  and  power  make  this 
instrument  worthy  of  a  place  beside  many  of 
professional  make. 

After  all  this  experimenting  and  developing  of 
stringed  instruments,  the  children  began  to  mani- 


8o    How  Children  Made  Instruments 


fest  a  genuine  curiosity  about  how  the  piano  came 
to  be.  So  I  procured  for  them  a  Dulcimer,  an 
instrument  which  represents  a  stage  between  the 
psaltery  (which  they  knew)  and  the  piano.  The 
dulcimer  is,  like  the  psaltery,  a  set  of  strings  of 
different  lengths,  stretched  over  a  flat  sounding 
box,  but  the  wires  are  struck  with  a  hammer,  which 
makes  it  a  more  direct  ancestor  of  the  piano.  The 
children  were  able  to  play  their  melodies  on  the 
dulcimer  with  ease  after  they  learned  the  scale 
arrangement.  They  could  easily  realize  that  after 
people  began  using  hammers  on  strings  it  was 
natural  to  expect  them  to  develop  a  mechanical 
means  of  using  the  hammers  and  to  improve  the 
effect  in  various  ways,  the  modern  piano  being  the 
eventual  result. 

Although  there  are  hundreds  of  other  kinds  of 
stringed  instruments  in  the  category  of  music's 
development,  it  seems  to  me  that  those  described 
above  cover  the  field  sufficiently  for  the  child.  He 
passes  from  plucked  strings  without  a  resonating 
body  to  plucked  strings  with  resonating  bodies^ 
of  which  the  lyre  and  harp  are  conspicuous  ex- 
amples; thence,  in  one  direction  to  strings  played 
with  a  plectrum,  and  the  honored  representative 


How  Children  Made  Instruments  8i 


of  this  type,  the  psaltery;  and  further  on  to  the  use 
of  a  hammer  on  the  strings,  the  dulcimer,  and  to  the 
perfected  mechanism  for  hammers  as  in  the  piano ; 
and  then  in  another  direction,  through  various 
types  of  stringed  instruments  with  finger  boards 
and  those  in  which  sound  is  obtained  by  the  use  of 
a  bow,  he  experiences  the  development  of  bowed 
instruments  leading  up  to  the  strings  of  the  modern 
orchestra. 

6 


CHAPTER  V 


THE  DEVELOPMENT  OF  THE  RHYTHMIC  SENSE 

The  foundation  of  music  is  rhythm,  and  as  every- 
one knows,  the  feehng  for  rhythm  must  first  find 
expression  through  the  body.  It  was  the  recogni- 
tion of  the  child's  need  to  feel  rhythm  physically 
before  he  could  sing  or  play  rhythmically,  that  led 
me,  many  years  ago,  to  incorporate  dancing  in  my 
music  teaching,  and  to  devote  to  it  a  part  of  every 
music  lesson. 

Some  children  are  so  well  coordinated  in  their 
bodily  movements  that  dancing  seems  to  come  as 
naturally  and  easily  as  walking.  In  the  case  of 
these  children,  civilization  has  not  deprived  them 
of  their  birthright  of  feeling  animal  freedom.  In 
my  mind  they  are  merely  the  normal  (if  normal 
may  mean  natural)  rather  than  the  especially  en- 
dowed ones,  and  if  all  constraining  influences  were 
removed  from  the  time  of  birth,  doubtless  all 
children  would  have  as  much  freedom  of  body  as 

young  wild  animals  that  have  never  experienced 

82 


Development  of  Rhythmic  Sense  83 


fear.  But  we  have  to  pay  the  cost  of  everything 
we  have,  and  the  muscular  stiffness  and  awkward- 
ness of  so  many  of  our  children  is  the  price  we  pay 
for  a  "proper"  bringing  up. 

The  constraint  that  blocks  the  free  bodily  ex- 
pression of  rhythm  will  also  hold  back  other  musi- 
cal development,  for  if  this  essential  foundation 
is  poor,  all  that  follows  is  impaired.  If  a  child  is 
unmusical  at  eight  or  ten  years  of  age,  it  does  not 
always  mean  that  he  could  not  have  been  musical 
if  his  body  had  been  free  and  his  training  construc- 
tive, or  that  he  could  not  yet  be,  under  the  right 
conditions.  Who  can  tell  how  much  natural 
musical  power  has  been  buried  in  a  stiff  little  body, 
has  become  atrophied,  and  has  never  been  recog- 
nized because  it  was  denied  the  outlet  of  rhythmic 
bodily  expression  as  the  natural  starting  point  in  its 
growth?  Is  it  not  true  that  one  seldom  finds  a 
really  musical  person  with  a  constrained,  awkward 
body?  I  cannot  think  of  one.  It  is  useless  to 
attempt  to  separate  our  bodies  from  the  things  we 
do  and  think;  the  body  is  the  medium  through 
which  musical  thought  must  be  expressed,  and  so  far 
as  our  bodies  are  tied  up  with  fear  and  other  con- 
straints, just  so  far  is  the  music  within  us  hopelessly 
imprisoned.    Since  vocal  and  instrumental  music 


84   Development  of  Rhythmic  Sense 


both  depend  so  vitally  upon  bodily  freedom  and 
muscular  coordination,  it  is  of  great  importance 
that  this  foundation  shall  be  laid  in  the  beginning 
of  the  child's  musical  study,  and  as  early  in  his  life 
as  possible. 

In  beginning  my  work  with  each  child,  it  has 
been  my  plan  to  find  out  so  far  as  possible  just 
what  stage  has  been  reached  by  his  natural  develop- 
ment in  rhythmic  feeling,  and  to  take  it  up  at  that 
point.  To  ascertain  this,  it  seems  to  me  neces- 
sary first  of  all,  to  establish  an  attitude  of  mind 
and  body  conducive  to  the  child's  freedom  of 
expression,  and  for  this,  of  course,  I  have  to  feel 
my  way  experimentally  with  each  child  (and  will 
probably  always  have  to  do  so)  until  the  child's 
confidence  and  freedom  are  established. 

I  have  not  employed  social  or  {esthetic  dancing, 
or  the  study  of  curves  or  attitudes,  but  have  gone 
back  to  the  simplest  rhythmic  movements  and  the 
most  elemental  forms  of  dancing  for  material  to 
use  in  developing  the  little  child's  bodily  response 
to  rhythm.  Many  dances  of  primitive  peoples 
are  excellently  suited  to  little  children,  though  of 
course  these  must  be  selected  with  care,  as  some  sav- 
age dances  are  not  at  all  appropriate  for  children. 

The  earliest  rhythmic  movements  of  primitive 


Development  of  Rhythmic  Sense  85 


peoples  and  little  children  are  without  form,  just 
as  their  earliest  songs  are  without  form.  The  re- 
sponse to  rhythmic  stimuli  seems  to  be  instinctive, 
in  both  animals  and  children,  whether  the  nervous 
system  receives  the  stimulus  by  means  of  the  sense 
of  touch,  the  eye,  or  the  ear.  But  the  earliest  re- 
sponse is  only  to  pure  rhythm,  or  pulse;  the  recog- 
nition of  rhythmic  form  is  the  result  of  experience 
— of  sensori-motor  learning.  As  early  as  a  baby 
can  use  his  eye  muscles  well  enough  to  watch  a 
moving  object,  he  is  apparently  fascinated  by  the 
rhythmic  swaying  of  objects;  through  his  eye  he 
responds  to  rhythmic  motion,  but  the  rhythmic 
design  of  the  wall  paper  before  his  eyes  means 
nothing  whatever  to  him  until  he  has  first  re- 
sponded to  formless  rhythm,  and  his  eye  has, 
through  experience  only,  learned  to  see  and  appre- 
ciate rhythmic  design.  The  same  is  true  of  ear 
impressions,  and  the  recognition  of  form  in 
rhythmic  sounds  can  come  only  after  similar  ex- 
perience. The  child  who  has  an  undeveloped 
sense  of  rhythm  must  be  taken  back,  even  to  the 
reflex  level  if  necessary,  until  his  natural  response 
to  rhythmic  stimuli  is  found,  in  order  that  none  of 
those  experiences  upon  which  his  development 
depends  shall  be  lacking. 


86    Development  of  Rhythmic  Sense 


First  of  all  the  muscles  must  form  habits,  and 
the  mother  who  holds  her  baby's  hands  and 
teaches  him  to  clap  "Pat-a-cake"  is  giving  him 
sensori-motor  training  in  rhythmic  expression.  I 
have  often  found  it  necessary  to  hold  a  child's  feet 
or  hands  and  guide  the  movements  of  them  with 
my  own  hands  until  he  felt  the  sensation  of  the 
rhythmic  movement  of  hand  or  foot.  After  this  it 
was  easier  for  him  to  execute  the  movements  alone. 
Clapping  the  hands  together  and  tapping  with  the 
hand,  or  with  a  stick,  upon  some  hard  surface  are 
perhaps  the  simplest  movements  for  children,  and 
by  means  of  these  the  child  may  get  his  first  defi- 
nite feeling  of  rhythmic  expression.  If  he  walks 
with  freedom,  his  first  sensation  of  the  rhythmic 
motions  of  his  feet  may  come  from  walking  or 
marching.  Marching  is  the  natural  model  for  time 
measure  and  most  children  find  it  easy,  but  there 
are  many  children  whose  leg  muscles  need  a  little 
sensori-motor  training  before  they  recognize  the 
sensation  of  rhythmic  walking. 

The  child  must  be  able  not  only  to  make  steady, 
rhythmic  movements  with  his  hands  and  with  his 
feet,  but  he  must  also  be  able  to  adjust  his  mo- 
tions to  fit  some  other  steady  rhythm — that  of 
the  music,  for  instance — and  to  recognize  a  change 


Development  of  Rhythmic  Sense  87 


to  faster  or  slower  tempi,  and  quickly  to  change 
his  established  rhythm  to  fit  the  new  rhythm  of 
the  music.  This  ability  is  the  foundation  for  all 
rhythmic  work,  and  when  the  child  has  acquired 
accuracy  in  this,  he  is  ready  to  make  more  rapid 
progress  in  rhythmic  expression,  and  has  also  an 
important  ally  in  the  acquirement  of  skill  in  other 
lines,  and  in  his  life's  work  in  general. 

It  is  a  noteworthy  fact  that  all  effort  is  easier 
and  less  tiring  when  done  rhythmically.  There  is 
something  in  the  swing  of  rhythmic  effort  that 
carries  it  on  of  its  own  impetus,  to  the  great 
saving  of  human  energy.  This  fact  has  been 
recognized  by  most  primitive  peoples,  who  have 
habitually  availed  themselves  of  this  means  to 
lighten  their  labors.  It  has  also  been  wisely  em- 
ployed by  men  of  greater  intelligence  to  secure 
more  efficient  work  from  laborers.  The  person  who 
writes  rhythmically  writes  better  than  one  who 
does  not,  and  the  acquirement  of  rhythm  in  any 
movement  which  one  tries  to  learn  facilitates  his 
skill  and  ease  in  that  movement.  Many  functions 
of  our  own  bodies  are  striking  proofs  of  the  value 
of  rhythm  in  our  lives.  Health  is  rhythmical,  and 
a  child's  nature  basks  in  rhythm,  "the  great  correc- 
tor of  nervous  diseases  and  irregulated  emotions." 


88   Development  of  Rhythmic  Sense 


It  is  in  this  stage  of  simple,  unchanging  rhythm 
that  so  many  of  the  jigs  and  jolly  dances  of  primi- 
tive peoples  belong.  I  have  found  these  most 
useful  for  little  children,  for  they,  like  savages, 
prefer  to  continue  at  length  any  special  step  which 
they  enjoy,  without  thought  of  change  or  figure. 

I  feel  that  one  of  the  most  important  factors  in 
the  development  of  a  child's  rhythmic  sense  is 
the  kind  of  music  that  is  played  for  his  dancing. 
It  must  be  simple,  well  accentuated,  rhythmically 
clear,  and  without  many  harmonies.  It  must 
help  him  rather  than  give  him  something  else  to 
interpret,  and  in  the  beginning  he  must  not  have 
to  think  too  much  about  it  in  order  to  enjoy  it. 
To  be  able  to  improvise  in  any  rhythm  at  the  piano, 
and  at  the  same  time  to  watch  the  feet  of  the  little 
ones,  seems  to  me  quite  necessary  for  the  teacher, 
unless  she  has  an  accompanist  who  has  the  knack 
of  playing  simple  music  rhythmically.  The  music 
should  be  also  varied,  for  the  steps  should  not  be 
so  associated  with  one  particular  melody  that  they 
cannot  be  danced  to  any  other  music  of  proper 
rhythm. 

After  the  children  had  had  experience  in  danc- 
ing different  primitive  steps  with  accuracy,  and  a 
few  mimetic  dances  as  well,  I  gave  them  folk 


Development  of  Rhythmic  Sense  89 


dances  which  involve  the  free  use  of  the  entire 
body  and  also  bring  about  the  recognition  of  form 
in  dancing.  Active  experiences  in  the  forms  of 
dances  are  the  natural  preparation  for  the  under- 
standing of  form  in  song  and  instrumental  music. 
The  child  who  feels  the  form  of  his  dance  will  be 
able  to  feel  form  in  his  singing  and  playing,  and 
also  in  the  compositions  he  creates. 

Throughout  the  work  the  children  have  the 
opportunity  for  original  expression,  and  they 
may  combine  familiar  steps  into  new  forms  of 
their  own.  In  the  original  dance  work,  these 
children  have  invented  new  steps  and  pantomimes, 
improvised  to  music  almost  daily,  made  dance 
dramatizations  of  fairy  tales,  poems  and  original 
stories,  and  impersonated  natural  phenomena, 
etc. — sometimes  individually,  but  usually  in 
groups.  For  example,  one  group  of  children  made 
a  very  pretty  dramatization  of  the  life  of  the  cater- 
pillar and  butterfly  and  dictated  the  kind  of  music 
desired  at  every  stage.  Very  young  children  love 
all  kinds  of  animal  dances,  especially  those  that 
involve  both  hands  and  feet  in  imitation  of  four- 
footed  animals,  and  they  sometimes  show  great 
ingenuity  in  improvising  dances  of  this  kind. 

While  I  think  it  most  important  to  give  children 


90    Development  of  Rhythmic  Sense 


freedom  in  improvising  dances  of  their  own  I  have 
found  it  necessary  to  guard  against  the  riotous  ele- 
ment that  sometimes  comes  into  children's  activi- 
ties when  they  are  given  free  play.  Dancing  is  the 
most  spontaneous  of  all  the  arts,  but  when  it  be- 
comes riotous  and  uncontrolled  it  is  no  longer  an 
art;  it  is  either  a  pathological  nervous  reaction  or  a 
reversion  to  the  animal  plane,  and  tends  to  be  de- 
structive to  the  true  artistic  sense  which  we  are 
trying  to  develop.  One's  own  improvisations  in 
dancing,  as  well  as  in  singing  and  playing,  must 
reach  toward  ideals  of  form,  balance,  and  sim- 
plicity, and  must  lead  to  a  sane  expression  and 
appreciation  of  art. 

I  have  found  dancing  a  valuable  aid  not  only  in 
teaching  musical  and  poetic  form  to  children,  but 
also  in  the  feeling  and  understanding  of  the  differ- 
ent pulses  of  music.  To  dance  the  same  kind  of 
step  to  different  pulses,  according  to  the  music, 
gives  the  child  a  definite  experience  in  feeling 
pulses.  To  walk  or  to  dance  the  rhythm  of  a 
melody  will  give  the  child  a  physical  sensation  of 
the  rhythm  which  will  enable  him  to  play  or  to 
sing  it  with  greater  rhythmic  accuracy. 

A  description  of  all  the  dances  I  have  used  does 
not  lie  within  the  scope  of  this  book,  nor  is  it 


Development  of  Rhythmic  Sense  91 


needed.  The  value  of  dancing  is  generally  recog- 
nized and  there  are  many  books  of  children's 
dances  to  which  the  reader  will  have  access.  The 
main  objects  of  this  discussion  are  to  emphasize 
the  need  of  correlating  dancing  with  the  child's 
music  study,  of  giving  it  the  place  of  first  impor- 
tance when  beginning  to  cultivate  the  musical 
sense,  and  to  indicate  the  importance  of  using 
material  that  is  truly  constructive  and  yet  simple 
enough  to  allow  his  development  to  be  natural.  It 
must  be  remembered  that  a  child  is  not  trained  by 
what  is  presented  to  him  but  by  his  own  reaction 
to  what  is  presented. 

It  has  seemed  not  out  of  place,  however,  to  give 
a  detailed  description  of  a  few  of  my  own  experi- 
ments in  this  line  which  may  be  useful,  and  which 
others  may  wish  to  try. 

One  day  I  observed  a  group  of  negro  carpenters 
at  work  on  the  roof  of  a  building.  They  were  sing- 
ing in  unison  and  the  fall  of  their  hammers  came 
rhythmically  together,  as  they  nailed  on  the 
shingles.  They  seemed  to  enjoy  it  so  much  that 
it  gave  me  an  idea  for  my  rhythmic  teaching:  my 
little  folks  could  build  houses  to  music!  I  had  a 
number  of  wooden  blocks  made  about  one  inch  by 
an  inch  and  a  half  by  ten  inches  and  gave  each 


92    Development  of  Rhythmic  Sense 

child  sixteen  blocks.  After  they  had  made  varioas 
designs  of  their  own,  I  showed  the  children  how  to 
make  hollow  towers  of  these  blocks  like  the  corn- 
cob pig-pens  that  country  children  make.  After 
they  had  made  several  and  knocked  them  over, 
we  tried  building  them  to  music.  At  first  it  was 
hard  for  them  to  bring  the  block  down  exactly  on 
the  accented  note,  but  after  a  little  practice  they 
found  great  pleasure  in  having  all  the  blocks  come 
down  at  the  same  instant,  as  one  block.  I  played 
music  in  duple  pulse,  and  they  lifted  the  blocks 
on  the  unaccented  note  and  put  them  in  place  on 
the  accented  note.  At  first  they  used  one  hand 
in  this,  then  learned  to  do  it  equally  well  with  the 
other  hand,  and  afterwards  used  the  two  hands 
alternately.  The  children  liked  this  exercise  so 
much  that  they  were  always  disappointed  when  the 
last  block  was  used;  so  we  tried  the  plan  of  con- 
tinuing the  exercise  indefinitely  by  rebuilding  the 
tower  in  another  place  as  soon  as  it  was  finished, 
without  waiting  for  the  music  to  stop.  As  each 
child  worked  with  sixteen  blocks,  the  finished 
building  came  out  each  time  at  the  end  of  a  phrase, 
and  this  gave  them  new  experiences  in  the  feeling 
of  form.  Sometimes  they  built  the  towers  slowly, 
moving  on  alternate  beats,  and  at  pther  tinies  tried 


Development  of  Rhythmic  Sense  93 


moving  in  double-quick  time  to  the  still  unchanged 
music. 

I  remembered  having  seen  two  or  more  work- 
men wielding  sledges  with  rhythmic,  alternate 
strokes,  to  drive  a  long  stake  into  the  ground; 
and  again  we  used  the  workmen's  suggestion  and 
two  children  built  a  tower  together.  This  was  a 
little  more  difficult,  as  it  required  not  only  a  feeling 
for  the  rhythm  and  a  proper  coordination  of  the 
muscles,  but  it  also  required  inhibition  at  the  same 
time. 

This  tower-building  exercise  involves  concen- 
trated attention,  intelligence  in  keeping  the  tower 
straight,  recognition  and  feeling  for  rhythm,  a 
fine  coordination  of  hand  and  arm  that  brings 
the  block  down  not  only  at  the  exact  instant  but 
in  a  definitely  ordered  place  (upon  the  accuracy 
of  which  the  beauty  and  strength  of  the  tower  de- 
pends), and  with  a  definite  force  (to  keep  from 
knocking  the  tower  down),  also  definite  self  con- 
trol in  keeping  each  hand  from  working  out  of 
turn ;  and  when  two  or  more  children  work  on  one 
tower,  an  extra  social  value  is  added. 

All  kinds  of  ball  games  and  ball  dances  are  of 
value  in  giving  the  body  rhythmic  coordination. 
Children  love  to  catch  balls,  and  even  bean  bags, 


94    Development  of  Rhythmic  Sense 


to  music,  and  my  pupils  have  enjoyed  attempts  to 
combine  dancing  and  ball  catching  in  various  ways. 
After  children  have  acquired  sufficient  muscular  co- 
ordination, this  combination  offers  a  large  field  in 
which  they  may  make  dances  of  their  own,  singly 
or  in  groups. 

One  experiment  proved  to  be  such  a  delight  to 
the  children  that  it  served  as  a  special  treat:  A 
group  of  children  stood  with  balls  in  their  hands 
and  listened  to  the  music  which  changed  its  tempo 
at  frequent  intervals.  The  plan  was  to  throw  the 
ball  up  on  one  beat  and  catch  it  on  the  next,  and 
to  regulate  the  distance  the  ball  was  thrown  ac- 
cording to  the  time  that  elapsed  between  beats  of 
the  music.  If  the  tempo  was  very  slow  the  balls  had 
to  be  thrown  very  high  so  they  would  not  fall  back 
to  the  hand  before  the  next  note  was  struck.  If 
the  tempo  was  very  fast,  a  few  inches  was  as  much 
as  the  ball  had  time  to  go.  Each  time  the  tempo 
changed  the  children  were  allowed  to  pause  for  one 
measure  to  feel  the  rhythm.  If  a  ball  was  dropped 
to  the  floor,  or  thrown  or  caught  out  of  rhythm, 
the  owner  of  it  was  temporarily  out  of  the  game. 

This  exercise  calls  for  alertness  of  attention, 
quickness  of  response,  muscular  coordination, 
rhythmic  feeling,  quick  judgment  in  selecting  the 


14.     A  Xoon  Hour  at  Hoiiif.     A  Flageolet  Duet 


Development  of  Rhythmic  Sense  95 


distance,  and  physical  adjustment  in  regulating 
the  force  to  carry  the  ball  to  the  right  distance. 
It  has  an  added  interest  when  it  can  be  given 
out  of  doors  where  the  slowness  of  the  tempo  may 
be  limited  only  according  to  the  distance  which  the 
child  can  throw  and  catch  the  ball. 

Ball  throwing  serves  its  purpose  in  rhythmic 
work  by  more  or  less  vigorous  movements,  requir- 
ing a  varying  degree  of  muscular  force.  As  a 
contrast  to  this,  I  tried  experiments  with  balloons, 
which  required  an  inhibition  of  muscular  force, 
and  these  exercises  I  believe  to  be  also  valuable. 
When  the  child  who  is  accustomed  to  throwing 
balls  takes  a  balloon  in  his  hand  and  throws  it  up, 
he  invariably  sends  it  too  high  until  he  has  learned 
to  adjust  his  muscles  to  more  delicate  movements. 
At  first  I  had  the  children  throw  balloons  lightly 
to  music  with  simple  duple  pulse — "up — catch — up 
— catch,"  etc.  Afterward  they  followed  music  in 
triple  pulse,  bouncing  the  balloon  once  before 
catching  it:  "up — bounce — catch,"  etc.  Later 
they  used  quadruple  pulse,  with  a  bounce  for  each 
hand,  thus:  "up — bounce — bounce — catch,"  etc., 
and  in  every  case  the  force  had  to  be  so  adjusted  that 
the  balloon  would  go  high  enough  to  come  back  to 
the  hand  exactly  on  the  proper  beat  of  the  music. 


96    Development  of  Rhythmic  Sense 


This  exercise  has  great  rhythmic  value,  and  the 
ease  with  which  the  balloon  is  bounced  makes  it  a 
great  help  in  giving  children  definite  experiences  in 
different  pulses.  I  have  also  found  it  especially 
valuable  for  children  whose  movements  were 
"heavy"  and  who  habitually  used  too  much  force 
in  their  activities.  It  "calmed  down"  their  mo- 
tions and  the  results  in  lightness  and  grace  were 
very  marked.  The  charm  of  the  colored  balloon 
seems  to  make  the  child  forget  himself  in  his  ab- 
sorbed interest  in  the  balloon  to  a  greater  degree 
than  in  any  other  dances  I  have  tried,  and  it  has 
been  very  interesting  to  see  children  who  are 
usually  awkward  give  expression  to  freedom  and 
real  grace  in  this  dance. 

The  Dead  Game  was  another  experiment  that 
had  very  gratifying  results  in  pure  relaxation. 
Once  the  mother  of  one  of  my  new  pupils  asked  the 
child  what  part  of  the  lesson  he  had  enjoyed  most, 
and  he  answered,  "I  like  being  dead  best  of  all!" 
which  puzzled  the  mother  very  much  until  she 
visited  the  studio.  The  idea  is  to  drop  all  effort 
at  a  given  signal,  and  instantly  be  as  relaxed  as  if 
one  had  been  shot.  I  have  used  the  word  "dead" 
deliberately,  and  have  found  no  unpleasant  reac- 
tion to  the  word  on  the  part  of  the  children,  when  it 


Development  of  Rhythmic  Sense  97 


was  properly  introduced.  It  is  the  "grown-up" 
who  is  afraid  of  the  word,  but  to  children  it  appeals 
to  the  dramatic  instinct  as  few  words  do.  If  I 
should  ask  Johnny  to  relax,  he  would  probably  see 
no  use  in  it,  and  I  would  have  a  big  undertaking 
in  attempting  to  teach  him  how  to  relax;  but  if  he 
is  a  bear  walking  on  all  fours  through  the  forest 
or  doing  a  wonderful  bear  dance,  and  a  hunter  ap- 
pears and  shoots  him,  he  is  instantly  a  dead  bear, 
and  more  relaxed  than  anyone  could  teach  him 
to  be.  Gradually,  remembering  this  and  other 
pleasant  experiences  in  being  dead,  he  learns  to 
relax  intelligently.  He  also  learns  by  experience 
early  in  his  life  how  much  faster  his  body  recuper- 
ates in  being  completely  dead  than  in  half  relaxed 
resting,  and  forms  a  healthful  and  time-saving 
habit.  I  have  also  tried  sleeping  games,  but  the 
response  is  not  so  quick  nor  so  effectual.  Sleep  is 
too  common  an  experience  with  children  to  have 
the  same  effect.  It  is  not  dramatic  enough. 
When  the  children  first  practice  the  dead  inter- 
lude, I  usually  precede  it  with  an  animal  dance,  to 
give  them  a  motive  for  making  the  action  as  per- 
fect as  possible.  Then  the  hunter  examines  the 
animals  to  see  if  they  are  dead;  lifts  each  limb  to 
see  if  it  falls  without  resistance.    If  it  isn't  dead, 

7 


98    Development  of  Rhythmic  Sense 


"it  will  be  in  just  a  moment."  A  little  "dead 
music" — very  soft,  quieting  strains — will  help  to 
keep  the  children  absolutely  lifeless  as  long  as 
seems  best  for  them.  Presently  a  magic  chord 
is  heard  which  changes  the  dead  bears  into  live 
children  who  are  entirely  refreshed,  and  only  a 
minute  or  two  has  been  consumed  in  the  resting. 
Later  the  dramatic  preparation  may  be  omitted; 
and  the  moment  I  see  signs  of  fatigue  in  a  child, 
all  I  have  to  do  is  to  point  my  finger  at  him  and 
say,  "Bang!"  and  he  is  instantly  flat  on  the  floor 
or  on  the  couch.  I  believe  this  to  be  one  of  the 
most  helpful  things  the  children  have  learned  in  my 
studio;  I  realize  its  value  every  day.  It  is  also  a 
clear  illustration  of  how  the  imitative  and  dramatic 
impulse  of  little  children  can  be  used  for  construc- 
tive and  healthful  purposes,  where  an  intellectual 
process  would  be  futile. 


CHAPTER  VI 


SINGING  AND  VOICE  CONTROL  FOR  CHILDREN 

Most  children  develop  the  sense  of  rhythm  before 
they  acquire  an  appreciation  of  tone,  and  are  able 
to  coordinate  the  muscles  of  their  bodies  in  dancing 
before  they  can  produce  definite  melodies.  This  is 
consistent,  for  dancing  is  more  elemental  than  any 
other  form  of  rhythmic  expression,  reaching  back 
even  into  the  animal  stage.  Though  the  ,union  of 
song  and  dance  is  almost  universal  among  primitive 
peoples,  all  primitive  music  stresses  rhythm  rather 
than  melody. 

The  child's  first  experience  in  tone  should  be 
vocal.  Man's  earliest  expression  of  tone  and 
melody  was  in  song  which  he  practiced  long  before 
artificial  instruments  of  melody  were  even  thought 
of.  As  dancing  is  more  elemental  than  singing, 
so  singing  is  more  elemental  than  playing,  and  it  is 
fitting  that  the  child  shall  sing  before  he  plays. 
Besides,  melody  playing  in  its  simplest  form  is  but 
the  imitation  of  the  voice  in  song,  and  I  feel  that 

99 


loo       Singing  and  Voice  Control 


correlated  song  experiences  are  absolutely  neces- 
sary in  the  logical  development  of  any  kind  of 
musical  training  for  the  child. 

Children,  like  birds,  learn  to  sing  by  imitation, 
and  it  is  not  too  early  to  start  a  child's  musical 
education  the  day  he  is  born,  by  singing  to  him. 
The  child  who  is  born  into  a  family  of  spontaneous 
singers  and  who  hears  singing  habitually  in  his 
home,  stands  a  fair  chance  of  being  able  to  sing 
very  early  in  his  life,  but  the  child  whose  mother 
and  nurses  never  sing  simple  childish  songs  to  him 
lacks  the  best  opportunity  to  learn  an  art  that 
necessarily  begins  by  pure  imitation. 

The  singing  voice  should  be  produced  as  easily 
and  naturally  as  the  speaking  voice,  and  if  children 
heard  as  much  singing  as  talking,  it  probably 
would  be.  The  child  improvises  his  own  words  in 
conversation,  and  he  should  be  able  to  improvise 
as  freely  with  his  singing  voice.  To  speak  in  a 
singing  voice  with  abandon,  without  having  to 
conform  to  a  set  song,  is  a  great  help  in  freeing  the 
voice.  If  we  could,  from  our  earliest  childhood, 
feel  and  practice  utter  freedom  in  vocal  sounds 
without  being  held  down  to  real  songs,  and  with  no 
fear  of  forgetting  either  tune  or  words,  I  think  we 
would  probably  not  have  to  work  so  hard  in  later 


,    A  Uevivul  of  Merric  r.nKla.ul  s  I'ipe  a 


Singing  and  Voice  Control  loi 

years  to  get  our  voices  properly  "placed."  Con- 
straint is  at  the  root  of  most  bad  use  of  the  voice. 
No  organ  of  our  anatomy  responds  more  quickly 
to  either  physical  or  mental  constraint,  and  infancy 
is  the  time  to  establish  its  freedom. 

I  believe  that  little  children  learn  best  to  sing 
songs  by  attempting  to  imitate  without  having  their 
attention  called  to  their  inaccuracies  of  pitch  until 
after  the  plan  of  ignoring  them  has  been  given  a 
fair  trial.  To  call  attention  to  an  inaccuracy  in 
the  child's  singing  tends  to  make  him  self-con- 
scious, and  the  voice  is  very  susceptible  to  con- 
straint from  self -consciousness.  One's  own  nervous 
mechanism  takes  care  of  adjusting  the  muscles  of 
the  pharynx  that  regulate  the  pitch  of  the  voice, 
and  one's  conscious  efforts  to  help  the  fixing  of 
those  muscles  usually  hinder  rather  than  help. 
Unrestrained  experience  in  singing  is  what  every 
child  needs,  and  the  child  who  sings  much  with 
neither  physical  constraint  nor  external  restraint 
will  usually  develop  a  natural  mechanism  for  regu- 
lating the  pitch  of  his  tones,  just  as  birds  do.  I 
have  been  interested  to  observe  that  young  birds 
do  not,  in  the  beginning,  "carry  the  tune"  any 
more  accurately  than  most  children  do.  For  sev- 
eral years  I  had  the  opportunity  to  observe  the 


102       Singing  and  Voice  Control 


methods  of  mother  robins  teaching  their  little  ones 
to  sing,  as  the  trees  around  my  home  were  nesting 
places  for  several  families  and  several  generations. 
These  robins,  year  after  year,  held  their  singing 
school  near  my  windows,  and  invariably  they  used 
the  same  little  song  for  the  baby  birds  to  practice 
on — one  much  simpler  than  the  wonderful  songs 
the  grown-up  robins  usually  sang.  Over  and  over 
again,  hundreds  of  times  a  day,  the  mother  bird 
would  call  to  her  fledglings,  scarcely  able  to  hop 
out  of  the  nest,  "Te  de,  tedle  de!" — (the  intervals 
being  mi-re-mi-re-do).  Faintly  a  little  one  would 
call  back  a  prolonged  "te!"  wandering  around  on 
two  or  three  indefinite  notes.  Immediately  would 
come  the  bold  answer  from  the  mother,  giving  the 
song  correctly.  This  singing  school  held  all-day 
sessions.  The  teacher  was  indefatigable,  though 
the  pupils  restored  their  enthusiasm  by  frequent 
naps.  From  day  to  day  I  could  hear  improvement 
in  their  singing,  and  in  a  short  time,  an  especially 
clever  one  would  be  proudly  caroling  "Te-dle- 
de!"  He  had  acquired  the  three  notes  at  the  end 
of  the  song,  but  the  whole  thing  was  a  bit  too  com- 
plicated for  him  as  yet.  Before  the  summer  was 
over,  however,  all  the  young  robins  had  learned 
their  lessons  well,  and  a  sliding,  uncertain  note  was 


Singing  and  Voice  Control  103 


very  rarely  heard.  I  believe  that  any  child,  who 
would  begin  relatively  as  early,  and  sing  as  much 
as  those  robins  sang,  with  a  simple  and  correct  pat- 
tern ever  ready  for  him  to  imitate,  would  be  able 
to  sing  well  and  accurately  no  matter  what  his  lack 
in  musical  inheritance  might  be. 

From  the  beginning  of  their  training,  I  have  my 
pupils  sing  simple  songs  by  rote — children's  songs 
and  folk  songs,  and  their  own  improvisations,  with- 
out any  thought  of  analyzing  them,  since  first  of 
all  their  experiences  must  be  enlarged  and  habits 
of  free  singing  established.  This  rote  singing  is 
carried  on  through  all  their  training  until  they  are 
able  to  read  new  songs,  for  children  must  always 
sing. 

Inaccuracies  in  pitch  in  a  child's  singing  are 
usually  due  either  to  lack  of  experience  and  use  of 
the  voice  or  to  inattention  to  the  sound  he  is  trying 
to  imitate.  Often  he  does  not  listen  well.  Per- 
haps he  does  not  know  how  to  concentrate  his 
attention  on  something  that  is  coming  to  him 
through  his  ear.  Most  savage  children  are  trained 
in  keenness  of  ear  perception,  but  our  children  are 
brought  up  to  rely  more  upon  the  eye  and  sense  of 
touch  for  their  impressions,  and  few  of  them  notice 
anything  but  loud  sounds,  or  know  how  to  listen 


104       Singing  and  Voice  Control 


for  qualities  of  sound  or  to  discriminate  between 
those  qualities.  So  first  of  all  the  child  must  learn 
to  listen.  If  he  listens  intently  to  the  tone  he 
wishes  to  imitate,  and  sings  with  relaxed  throat, 
the  tone  will  usually  come  approximately  true. 

I  found  that  often  a  child  would  sing  a  correct 
tone  and  instantly  allow  it  to  slide  off  pitch.  To 
remedy  this  by  increasing  the  child's  power  of  at- 
tention and  control  over  the  tone,  I  tried  the  experi- 
ment of  having  the  children  sing  entire  sentences 
on  one  tone.  Often  we  held  lengthy  conversations 
in  the  form  of  one-note  chants,  changing  occasion- 
ally to  another  tone,  but  always  singing  steadily 
on  pitch.  This  seemed  to  help  the  children  very 
much  to  a  realization  of  pitch;  the  physical  sensa- 
tion of  steadily  holding  one  tone  gave  them  an 
experience  in  pitch  control  that  seemed  to  make 
further  singing  easier.  It  seemed  reasonable  to 
suppose  that  the  ability  to  hold  the  tone  in  one 
place  would  facilitate  control  in  adjusting  the  voice 
to  different  pitches.  It  also  occurred  to  me  that 
one-note  chants  would  be  a  good  starting  place  in 
teaching  monotones  to  sing,  and  the  idea  worked 
surprisingly  well.  Monotones  are  really  our  most 
elemental  singers,  and  it  seems  to  me  that  they 
give  us  a  cue  as  to  the  natural  development  of 


Singing  and  Voice  Control  105 


voice  control.  As  they  sing  everything  on  or  near 
one  tone,  they  may  be  brought  to  sing  consciously 
one  steady  tone,  and  from  this  gradually  widen  the 
power  of  voice  control. 

By  occasionally  using  in  our  conversational 
singing  a  tone  one  step  above  our  main  tone,  we 
progressed  to  chants  of  two  notes.  We  always 
used  the  higher  note  on  a  word  we  wished  to  em- 
phasize. At  this  point  I  gave  the  children  a  few 
definite  two-note  melodies,  which  they  not  only 
sang  but  also  played  on  bells  and  metal  bars.  (Two 
of  these  melodies  will  be  found  in  the  next  chapter.) 
Two  tones  do  not  allow  much  melodic  variety,  but 
when  the  child  can  sing  three  tones,  using  1 ,  2,  and 
3  of  the  major  scale,  he  then  has  the  means  of  great 
variety  in  melody,  especially  with  different  rhyth- 
mic combinations.  It  may  be  of  interest  to  note 
that  the  spontaneous  improvisations  of  small  chil- 
dren who  have  never  been  taught,  often  lie  within 
this  range  of  three  notes,  the  third  being  sometimes 
major  and  sometimes  minor. 

A  musical  historian  (Rowbotham)  brings  much 
evidence  to  prove  that  the  history  of  vocal  music 
commenced  with  a  one-note  period,  and  he  cites 
the  inhabitants  of  Tierra  del  Fuego  as  living  ex- 
amples of  primitive  peoples  still  in  that  stage;  this. 


io6 


Singing  and  Voice  Control 


he  claims,  was  followed  by  a  two-note  period,  and 
later  the  third  note  above  was  added,  and  he  gives 
many  specimens  of  songs  belonging  to  the  three- 
note  period,  monotonous,  and  without  form. 
Rowbotham's  theory  suggested  to  me  the  plan  of 
following  that  order  in  both  the  singing  and  the 
playing  of  little  children,  and  the  results  indicate 
that,  whether  or  not  this  theory  as  to  the  long-ago 
evolution  of  song  is  true,  the  order  fits  the  natural 
development  of  the  little  child  of  to-day  and  allows 
musical  beginning  to  take  deep  root  in  him. 

The  third  note  was  added  to  the  children's  con- 
scious repertoire  also  by  means  of  the  chant  with- 
out musical  form,  the  highest  note  being  employed 
for  words  to  which  we  wished  to  give  special  em- 
phasis. From  improvising  chants  the  children 
naturally  began  singing  Mother  Goose  rhymes  to 
melodies  of  three  notes,  and  thus  we  took  up  the 
study  of  form  in  singing.  They  had  already  had 
experiences  in  form  in  their  rote  singing,  but  had 
not  intellectualized  those  experiences  or  recognized 
form  as  such. 

From  the  three-note  scale  to  an  understanding 
of  the  pentatonic  scale  (1,  2,  3,  5,  and  6  of  the 
diatonic  major  scale)  was  easy  progression,  since 
in  their  rote-song  experiences  the  children  had 


17.    A  Lazy  Oboe  I'layer 


Singing  and  Voice  Control  107 


already  employed  those  tones.  They  were  partial 
to  the  pentatonic  scale,  and  seemed  to  fall  quite 
naturally  into  the  use  of  it  in  their  song  improvisa- 
tions. Indeed,  many  musical  peoples  have  shown 
a  preference  for  this  scale,  and  it  may  be  recalled 
that  some  of  the  loveliest  folk  songs  are  built  upon 
it,  "Swing  Low,  Sweet  Chariot,"  for  instance,  and 
"Auld  Lang  Syne." 

For  the  child's  mental  picture  of  the  intervals, 
I  use  the  numerical  names.  Any  child,  when  he 
begins  music  lessons,  has  already  had  practical 
experiences  in  numbers,  and  these  are  therefore 
simple  and  appropriate  as  symbols  for  the  inter- 
vals. "Do — re — mi"  is  a  foreign  language  to  the 
young  child,  and  complicates  his  singing  process. 
I  have  used  the  numbers  for  many  years  and  have 
found  them  entirely  satisfactory  as  guides  both 
for  singing  and  for  the  first  instiumental  playing. 

The  children  were  so  pleased  to  see  that  they 
could  intellectualize  the  melodies  which  they  had 
formerly  sung  by  rote,  that  they  wanted  to  analyze 
all  of  them,  and  by  doing  so,  they  soon  acquired 
a  conscious  feeling  for  and  recognition  of  all  the 
intervals  of  the  major  scale  and  of  the  minor 
as  well. 


CHAPTER  VII 


CORRELATION  OF  SINGING  AND  PLAYING 

With  no  other  motive  than  the  pleasure  of  sing- 
ing, the  children  learned  songs  and  sang  them,  and 
later,  when  they  used  instruments,  these  song  ex- 
periences served  them  well.  Children  love  familiar 
things  in  new  forms,  and  the  discovery  of  a  dif- 
ferent way  to  produce  a  melody  which  they  know 
how  to  sing,  links  up  the  new  and  the  old  experi- 
ences in  a  way  that  greatly  pleases  them.  As 
stated  in  an  earlier  chapter,  the  first  instruments 
used  were  percussion  instruments.  The  children 
played  melodies  which  they  already  knew,  their 
effoits  involving  merely  the  attempt  to  imitate 
the  voice  (either  theirs  or  mine)  as  nearly  as  the 
instrument  would  allow;  so  that  in  a  sense,  all  their 
first  playing  has  been  a  form  of  imitation,  guided, 
of  course,  by  mental  processes  varying  according 
to  the  instrument. 

Not  all  children  can  sing  with  their  tones  suffi- 
ciently accurate  in  pitch  to  serve  as  guides  in  their 

1 08 


Correlation  of  Singing  and  Playing  109 


playing.  But  those  who  could  not  sing  accu- 
rately (and  few  of  the  very  young  ones  could  in 
the  beginning)  followed  my  voice  in  their  playing. 
I  also  found  that  those  children  who  could  not 
easily  sing  in  tune  made  much  greater  progress  in 
voice  control  when  they  assisted  their  own  voices 
by  playing  on  the  glasses.  When  the  brain,  the 
hand,  the  eye,  and  the  voice  were  all  concentrating 
on  the  same  little  melody,  the  voice  was  much 
truer  in  pitch.  I  have  found  this  practice  very 
helpful  in  teaching  monotones  to  sing.  The  glasses 
are  better  for  this  than  metal  instruments  because 
the  tones  of  the  glasses  are  softer  and  blend  better 
with  the  child's  voice. 

The  musical  literature  used  with  these  instru- 
ments comprised  carefully  arranged  primitive 
songs,  folk  songs,  simple  melodies,  the  children's 
own  compositions,  and  classic  themes. 

The  playing  of  the  very  young  child  in  the 
beginning  was,  of  course,  of  the  simplest  kind  pos- 
sible. His  instruments  and  his  songs,  too,  were 
of  small  range,  often  involving  only  two  or  three 
notes. 

The  chants  and  two-note  and  three-note  songs 
which  were  given  them  not  only  helped  the  chil- 
dren to  sing  in  tune,  but  also  gave  them  material 


no  Correlation  of  Singing  and  Playing 


for  playing  upon  the  simple  instruments  which  they 
used  at  first.  They  had  played  folk-song  rhythms 
and  other  rhythms  on  their  drums  and  rattles,  and 
now  they  were  ready  to  play  melodies,  but  their 
simplest  instruments  had  not  the  capacity  for  folk 
songs,  and  besides,  the  little  child  needed  something 
even  simpler  to  play.  "Hot  Cross  Buns"  is  a  fine 
example  of  the  kind  of  song  that  is  suited  to  the 
little  child's  first  playing.  There  is  interesting 
variety  in  its  melody  and  rhythm,  and  yet  it  is 
simple  enough  for  any  child  who  is  old  enough  to 
learn  to  play  melodies.  But  I  have  been  unable 
to  find  in  folk-song  literature  other  songs  as  simple 
as  this  and  yet  suited  to  children,  so  to  fill  the  need, 
I  have  been  reduced  to  the  necessity  of  supple- 
menting "Hot  Cross  Buns"  with  a  few  songs  of 
my  own  making.  In  order  that  the  child  may  be 
free  to  try  out  different  kinds  of  instruments,  he 
must  have  a  number  and  variety  of  three-note 
melodies  in  his  repertoire — melodies  so  simple 
that  when  he  once  knows  them,  they  "go"  with- 
out brain  effort  on  his  part,  leaving  him  free  to 
think  of  his  new  medium,  and  at  the  same  time 
allow  him  to  experience  a  musical  result  with  it. 
Below  are  a  few  two-note  and  three-note  melodies 
given  in  the  simple  notation  which  I  use  with  the 


Correlation  of  Singing  and  Playing  m 


children  who  know  how  to  read  numbers.  The 
words  give  the  rhythm,  and  the  numbers  repre- 
sent the  notes  of  the  diatonic  major  scale: 

A  Bird  Song  (without  form) : 

Bobby  dear!    Time  to  go  to  bed.    Yes,  mother,  I'm  coming. 
121  12121         1  22221 

An  Old  Rhyme: 

One,  two,  tie  my  shoe.    Three,  four,  shut  the  door  (and  other  verses). 
12     112  12        12  1 

Bell  Song: 

6/8  Pulse:  Ding  Dong!    Ding  Dong!    Hear  the  merrv  bells  ringing. 

3        1  3        1  222    1  231 

Ding  Dong!    Ding  Dong!    Hear  the  merry  bells  ring. 
3        1  3       1  2      2     2    1     2  1 

Another  Three-note  Song : 

4/4  Pulse:  If  you'll  come  and    play  for  me  then    I  will  dance  for  you. 

11        12         333211  223 

Play  the  music   merrily,  and   I'll  be  merry  too. 
1      1     12      3332       1122  1 

I  also  add  this  well-known  favorite: 

4/4  Pulse:  Hot  cross  buns!    Hot  cross  buns! 

3      2        1    —    3       2        1  — 

One  a  penny,  two  a  penny!    Hot  cross  buns! 
1111     222    2        3      2        1  — 

One  of  the  children's  especial  favorites  was  the 
"Bear  Song" — without  rhyme.  I  preface  the 
giving  of  this  song  with  a  story  of  a  little  savage 


112  Correlation  of  Singing  and  Playing 


boy  who  was  starting  out  for  a  walk  in  the  woods. 
His  father  asked  him  what  he  would  do  if  he 
should  meet  an  elephant  in  the  woods.  "I  would 
climb  up  his  trunk  and  have  a  ride,"  the  boy  re- 
plied. "What  would  you  do  if  you  should  meet 
a  bear  in  the  woods.f*"  again  the  father  asked,  and 
the  boy  drew  himself  up  to  his  greatest  height  and 
replied : 

2/4  Pulse: 

If  I  saw  a  bear  I  would  run  so  fast  that  he  never  could  catch  me. 
i~2    3    3  3     2      1      2     2     2      1     2  3  3      2       1  2  

If  I  saw  a  bear  I  would  run  so  fast  that  he  never  could  catch  me. 
3    3    3    2     1       2    2    2      1     2    3  3     2      2  1  

By  the  time  the  children  had  played  three-note 
melodies,  they  had  sung  pentatonic  melodies,  and 
were  anxious  to  try  these  songs  of  wider  range  on 
the  different  instruments,  and  also  to  improvise 
pentatonic  melodies.  There  are  many  folk  songs 
that  involve  only  the  first  five  notes  of  the  major 
scale  ("Winter  Goodbye,"  for  instance)  and  these 
we  freely  used .  Four-note  melodies  are  not  so  easi- 
ly found.  Below  is  a  four-note  melody  which  the 
children  used  for  their  first  tetrachord  work  on  the 
lyre  and  other  instruments. 

4/4  Pulse:  1232      12  3—      2343      23  4— 
1232      12  3—     4323  1  


20.    Wheat-Straw  Clarinet 


Correlation  of  Singing  and  Playing  113 


As  they  had  gradually  increased  their  range  of 
singing  tones,  so  they  gradually  enlarged  the  com- 
pass of  the  tunes  they  played;  and  from  five-  and 
six-note  melodies  they  passed  easily  to  playing 
songs  that  involved  the  complete  scale  and  more. 
Habits  of  listening  carefully  to  the  intervals  in  new 
songs  and  of  recognizing  the  intervals  they  sang, 
made  it  very  easy  for  the  children,  after  a  little 
experience,  to  play  by  ear  most  of  the  melodies 
they  sang.  In  playing,  they  used  numbers  for 
their  intervals,  as  they  had  in  analyzing  their  songs. 
In  fact  it  was  in  playing  that  I  had  first  tried,  years 
before,  the  use  of  numbers.  I  remembered  that  as 
a  child  I  had  thought  only  of  the  number  of  the 
interval  when  I  played  by  ear  naturally,  and  I  could 
think  of  no  easier  means  of  guiding  children  to 
play  by  ear  intelligently.  By  intelligent  playing 
by  ear  I  mean  a  conscious  recognition  of  the  inter- 
val heard  and  an  instant  placement  of  it  on  the 
instrument;  and  it  is  my  belief  that  this  kind  of 
playing  is  an  end  greatly  to  be  desired,  based  as  it 
must  be  on  a  sound  musical  understanding. 

As  soon  as  the  children  knew  the  number  of  the 
scale  interval  which  each  tone  of  the  song  repre- 
sented, and  knew  the  rhythm  of  the  melody,  it  was 
easy  to  transfer  that  knowledge  to  any  instrument 

8 


114  Correlation  of  Singing  and  Playing 

which  they  knew  how  to  manipulate,  if  it  had  the 
range  capacity  for  it,  without  any  thought  of  key 
or  letter  name.  Nothing  stood  between  the  song 
and  the  instrument;  no  theory  of  music,  no  sym- 
bols, not  even  names  of  keys — only  the  relation  of 
sounds  to  each  other.  If  the  child  could  sing  a 
song  and  know  what  he  was  singing,  that  was  all 
that  was  necessary ;  he  could  play  it.  This  founda- 
tion leads  not  only  to  intimacy  with  the  instrument, 
but  in  later  study  to  easy  and  natural  transposi- 
tion from  key  to  key.  Each  new  instrument  that 
the  child  made  or  learned  to  use,  served  as  a  new 
medium  through  which  to  express  his  familiar 
tunes,  and  most  of  the  children  habitually  wanted 
to  play  a  melody  on  every  instrument  they  knew 
how  to  manipulate. 

After  the  children  had  acquired  a  little  freedom 
in  playing  simple  melodies  and  after  several  had 
learned  the  same  tunes,  they  combined  their  play- 
ing, first  on  instruments  of  the  same  kind,  and 
afterwards  on  different  kinds  of  instruments  tuned 
together.  Their  first  ensemble  efforts  were,  of 
course,  in  unison,  and  they  soon  realized  the  need 
of  having  their  instruments  tuned  accurately  and 
in  unison.  It  was  interesting  to  observe  how 
rapidly  the  children,  even  those  four  and  five  years 


Correlation  of  Singing  and  Playing  115 


of  age,  developed  the  ability  to  tell  when  a  note  was 
out  of  tune.  The  daily  tuning  of  the  glasses  gave 
them  opportunity  for  much  experience  in  pitch  dis- 
crimination from  the  very  beginning  of  their  training, 
so  that  by  the  time  they  reached  stringed  instru- 
ments, they  had  little  difficulty  with  the  tuning. 

After  a  time,  through  both  vocal  and  instru- 
mental experiences  with  rounds  and  canons, 
we  came  to  an  enjoyment  and  appreciation  of 
harmony.  With  a  little  practice,  the  children 
could  soon  sustain  their  parts  in  a  simple  round 
with  accuracy  and  enjoyment.  The  older  children 
took  great  pleasure  in  "part  playing"  and  in  com- 
bining various  instruments  in  the  differeiit  parts; 
and  when  I  added  to  their  orchestral  combinations 
further  accompaniment  at  the  piano,  they  were 
delighted.  One  of  the  things  which  seemed  to 
thrill  them  most  was  a  Martin  Luther  Choral,  the 
melody  of  which  six  of  the  children  played  on 
glasses,  Swiss  bells,  and  psalteries;  while  I  supplied 
the  modulating  harmonies  at  the  piano.  "O,  I 
love  it!"  a  child  would  often  say;  "Please  let  us 
play  it  again!"  This  was  one  of  the  things  which 
they  learned  as  pure  melody,  for  we  decided  that 
no  spoken  words  could  be  beautiful  enough  to  be 
associated  with  it. 


ii6  Correlation  of  Singing  and  Playing 


After  their  experiences  in  singing,  and  in  trans- 
ferring song  melodies  to  instruments,  the  children 
seemed  to  progress  naturally  to  the  playing  of 
melodies  without  words,  and  to  the  appreciation 
of  pure  melody. 

I  was  pleased  to  see  how  well  they  could  draw 
comparisons  between  the  tone  qualities  of  the 
different  instruments,  and  how  soon  they  de- 
veloped judgment  in  making  combinations.  For 
instance,  one  little  girl  said,  after  experimenting: 
"The  ocarina  doesn't  mix  well  with  the  glasses. 
I  don't  like  it  at  all.  The  harp  goes  much  better 
with  them."  They  all  have  preferences  as  to  com- 
binations of  instruments,  and  have  evinced  de- 
cidedly developing  taste  in  this,  as  also  in  the 
suitability  of  certain  instruments  for  certain  melo- 
dies. At  one  time  two  of  the  children  were  working 
on  p  little  Bach  minuet,  one  child  playing  the 
upper  voice  and  the  other  the  lower  voice.  They 
tried  it  on  the  glasses,  the  harp,  the  lyres,  the 
flageolet,  and  the  marimba,  and  selected  the  latter 
as  being  most  suited  to  the  melody,  as  indeed  it 
was,  with  its  uniform  clarity  and  purity  of  tone. 

It  was  a  great  day  when  four  of  the  children 
were  able  to  combine  the  playing  of  the  fiddles 
which  they  had  made,  and  organize  a  stringed 


21.    Summer  Music  in  the  Garden 
(Squash-Leaf  Oboe) 


22.    A  Young  Apollo  Plays  the  First 
Stringed  Instrument 


I 

Correlation  of  Singing  and  Playing  117 


quartette.  On  these  fiddles  they  played  folk  songs 
in  unison  and  in  parts,  classic  themes  and  their  own 
compositions.  One  fiddle  group  played  very  musi- 
cally the  theme  of  the  Mozart  A  major  Sonata 
with  all  its  parts. 

In  the  children's  singing  experiences  I  have  pur- 
posely avoided  songs  that  involved  accidentals  until 
I  felt  that  they  had  developed  a  definite  feeling 
for  the  pentatonic  and  diatonic  scales.  I  remem- 
ber how,  as  a  child,  I  was  greatly  confused  by 
accidentals  until  by  chance  I  consciously  recog- 
nized the  major  scale  as  my  "home  base."  One 
will  find  that  most  of  the  best  folk  songs  are  with- 
out accidentals,  which  fact  indicates  that  musical 
peoples  develop  first  along  the  simple  line  of  the 
scale.  One  of  the  most  striking  differences  be- 
tween folk  songs  and  many  modern  songs  for  chil- 
dren is  the  presence  of  accidentals  in  the  latter. 
These  accidentals  make  the  melody  more  difficult 
for  the  child  to  comprehend,  and  they  tend  to  con- 
fuse him  when  he  tries  to  reproduce  it  in  some  other 
way  than  with  his  voice.  In  keeping  with  this 
idea,  all  of  the  simple  instruments  which  the 
children  first  use  are  limited  to  the  diatonic  scale. 
After  they  are  thoroughly  at  home  in  the  manipu- 
lation of  an  instrument  confined  to  the  diatonic 


ii8  Correlation  of  Singing  and  Playing 


scale,  the  introduction  of  an  accidental  or  two 
adds  a  new  interest  rather  than  confusion.  One 
day  Mary  was  experimenting  with  the  Irish  harp 
and  discovered  how,  by  turning  a  httle  device,  the 
tones  could  be  raised  a  half  step.  From  that 
moment  her  interest  naturally  reached  out  for 
variations  in  the  scale  with  which  she  was  already 
quite  familiar. 

Notation  Deferred. — As  has  already  been  pointed 
out  in  Chapter  II,  Notation  should  be  postponed 
until  after  the  child  has  had  wide  experience  in 
making  music.  The  use  of  all  types  of  instru- 
ments makes  this  deferring  of  modern  notation 
come  as  a  matter  of  course,  because,  as  the  notes 
of  the  staff  are  produced  differently  on  different 
instruments,  the  use  of  the  same  symbols  for  all 
would  be  too  confusing  to  the  child. 

As  the  child  plays  by  imitation  and  by  ear,  no 
symbols  whatever  are  needed  in  the  beginning. 
The  first  thought  of  written  signs  usually  comes 
when  a  child  has  made  up  a  little  song  which  he 
plays  and  would  like  to  remember,  and  thinks  he 
might  forget.  He  knows  that  words  can  be  writ- 
ten, and  he  also  knows  that  the  notes  of  his  instru- 
ment are  numbered;  therefore  it  is  quite  simple  to 
write  the  words  and  put  the  numbers  under  them 


Correlation  of  Singing  and  Playing  119 


to  show  the  tune;  and  so  the  record  is  safe.  After 
a  little  drill  in  remembering  what  he  composes,  he 
easily  forms  the  habit  of  writing  down  most  of 
his  original  compositions,  either  with  or  without 
words,  merely  to  preserve  them.  But  even  this 
simple  system  of  number  notation  (without  a  staff) 
is  not  presented  to  him  until  the  numbers  have 
first  been  given  musical  meaning  both  with  voice 
and  instruments.  These  numbers  may  be  applied 
to  all  primitive  instruments  without  exception,  and 
to  modern  ones  as  well,  and  yet  they  involve  no 
complex  symbols. 

After  a  child  has  had  intelligent  experiences  in 
playing  the  difiFerent  pulses  of  music,  he  easily 
grasps  the  meaning  of  pulse  signatures,  but  "key 
signatures"  as  yet  mean  nothing  to  him.  If  he 
composes  a  little  melody  and  sets  it  down  thus : 

4.    1  5    0  1    4  3  2    1  — 

it  is  accurately  recorded,  the  numbers  giving  at  a 
glance  the  melody  and  the  rhythm  as  well.  In 
ordinary  notation  the  rhythm  would  be  expressed 
thus  (four  beats  to  a  measure) : 

but  the  child's  simple  symbols  mean  more  to  him, 
based,  as  they  are,  on  his  own  experience.  The 


120  Correlation  of  Singing  and  Playing 

shapes  of  notes  and  note  values  may  come  later  on, 
and  these  symbols  may  be  placed  in  a  line  above 
the  figures.  The  interpretation  of  all  symbols 
should  be  made  first  with  the  voice,  the  easiest  and 
most  direct  approach  to  the  child's  feeling  for  and 
understanding  of  them.  Gradually,  one  at  a 
time,  the  modern  symbols  may  be  brought  into 
use,  leaving  the  staff,  which  is  most  difficult  for 
him,  until  by  actual  experience  he  realizes  the  need 
which  the  staff  serves. 

It  is,  of  course,  as  necessary  for  the  student  of 
music  to  know  how  to  read  music  symbols  as  it  is 
necessary  for  the  student  of  literature  to  know  how 
to  read  a  language,  and  any  training  which  does 
not  involve  the  acquirement  of  this  knowledge  and 
practice  as  soon  as  the  child  is  ready  for  it,  fails  to 
give  him  the  access  to  musical  literature  that  is 
everyone's  right  and  privilege.  But  in  the  above 
described  plan,  we  have  a  process  which  puts  real 
meaning  into  note-reading;  which  first  gives  the 
child  an  opportunity  to  learn  in  the  natural  way — 
by  imitation;  which  gradually  intellectualizes  his 
experiences  and  allows  him  to  acquire  freedom  in 
playing,  with  nothing  to  distract  his  mind  from  the 
musical  thought  he  is  trying  to  express ;  which  gives 
him  the  thing  before  the  symbol  of  it — the  free 


23.    Experiments  with  tlie  'J'ciisioii  IJow 


Correlation  of  Singing  and  Playing  121 


expression  of  the  language  before  its  written  form; 
and  which,  through  activities  that  hold  his  interest, 
leads  him  to  acquire  step  by  step,  of  his  own  accord, 
and  without  realizing  its  difficulty,  an  understand- 
ing of  our  highly  involved  and  complex  system  of 
notation. 


CHAPTER  VIII 


ORIGINAL  COMPOSITIONS 

Not  only  has  original  expression  been  encouraged 
from  the  beginning  of  my  training  for  children, 
but  composing  has  been  a  definitely  prescribed 
activity  in  each  phase  of  the  work.  It  is  my  belief 
that  the  ability  for  original  thought  and  action  is 
best  fostered  in  the  earliest  stages  of  any  form  of 
expression,  for  after  habits  of  following  conven- 
tional lines  have  been  thoroughly  established,  it  is 
very  hard  for  the  average  person  to  break  away 
into  new  and  original  ways.  But  when  the  entire 
field  is  new,  and  the  child  is  so  young  that  his 
ideas  are  as  free  to  flow  in  one  way  as  in  another, 
it  is  not  so  diflScult  to  form  habits  of  finding  ways 
of  his  own  to  express  his  ideas.  So  soon  as  one  of 
my  pupils  has  had  an  idea  of  his  own,  he  has  been 
urged  to  give  it  original  expression,  whether  it  be 
in  dancing,  singing,  language,  or  playing. 

The  original  dances  of  the  children  have  been 
touched  upon  in  Chapter  V. 

122 


Original  Compositions  123 


Song  improvisations  really  began  in  mere  sing- 
ing conversations  which  any  child  who  can  talk 
may  practice.  The  children  greeted  me  and  bade 
me  good-bye  in  song,  using  absolute  freedom  in 
what  they  said  and  the  melodies  they  employed. 
"We  conversed  in  song  on  any  subject,  at  first 
without  thought  of  form.  Afterwards  we  "made 
up"  little  songs  about  things  we  saw  and  things  we 
liked.  I  improvised  songs  in  their  presence  about 
all  kinds  of  things,  and  by  means  of  their  natural 
imitative  tendency  (contradictory  though  it  may 
seem)  they  caught  the  spirit  and  habit  of  original 
improvising.  It  was  not  my  aim  to  bring  out  any- 
thing of  artistic  value  in  the  beginning,  but  merely 
to  give  the  child  freedom  in  letting  his  song  flow, 
and  to  have  him  realize  how  easy  improvisation  is, 
and  feel  no  constraint  in  attempting  it.  It  must 
always  be  remembered  that  we  do  not  wish  to  force 
the  child's  powers  and,  fortunately,  one  cannot 
force  a  child  in  his  original  work. 

A  few  illustrations  of  the  original  work  of  little 
children  may  be  of  interest.  These  examples  are 
not  given  as  evidence  of  precocity  or  unusual 
power,  but  simply  as  the  natural  expressions  of 
normal  children  under  conditions  that  give  them 
opportunity  for  free  expression. 


124         Original  Compositions 


Little  Katharine  is  just  beginning  to  form  the 
habit  of  improvising.  She  stood  in  the  window  in 
the  country,  a  few  days  after  her  fourth  birthday, 
Hstening  to  sounds  from  the  woods.  Suddenly  she 
sang  the  little  song  shown  in  Music  Plate  I. 

Even  if  we  had  so  desired,  we  could  not  have 
kept  out  of  the  realm  of  poetry,  for  rhythmic  lan- 
guage is  as  truly  a  part  of  music  as  are  any  other 
rhythmic  sounds.  After  chants  and  tuneful  con- 
versations and  improvisations  without  form  or 
meter,  like  the  above,  the  children  gradually  fell 
into  the  use  of  words  with  established  meter,  their 
rhythmic  feeling  finding  expression  in  language  as 
spontaneously  as  it  did  in  dancing  and  playing. 
The  following  is  an  example  of  rhythmic  free  verse 
spontaneously  created  in  the  studio  by  Arthur 
(aged  six)  as  he  looked  at  a  vase  of  flowers: 

The  petals  have  fallen  from  the  rose. 
But  there  are  two  buds  left, 
And  the  leaves  are  nice  and  green. 
And  the  stems  can  drink  the  water  up 
To  make  the  petals  grow  again. 

Rhyme  makes  a  strong  appeal  to  the  child,  es- 
pecially to  those  whose  Mother  Goose  experiences 
have  tuned  their  ears  to  its  charm,  and  the  children 


Original  Compositions  125 


naturally  fell  into  its  use,  composing  words  with 
both  meter  and  rhyme.  Their  poetic  lines  as- 
sumed balance  in  the  same  way  that  their  melodies 
had  taken  form. 

As  soon  as  Oren  (aged  eight)  had  finished  mak- 
ing his  twelve-note  marimba,  he  made  a  poem  and 
set  it  to  music,  and  when  he  played  this  upon  his 
marimba,  he  had  a  threefold  piece  of  creative  work, 
the  instrument,  the  poem,  and  the  melody.  I 
give  the  words  as  an  example  of  a  child's  natural 
use  of  meter  and  rhyme  in  language.  He  called 
his  poem  "The  Voice  of  Spring": 

I  am  here!    I  am  here! 
Summer  days  are  very  near. 
See  the  flowers  all  around 
On  the  green  and  grassy  ground. 
See,  the  sun  is  shining  bright, 
No  gray  clouds  say  snow  to-night. 

One  of  the  most  natural  forms  of  musical  com- 
position for  children  is  the  setting  of  familiar 
rhymes  to  music.  Most  of  the  children  already 
knew  many  Mother  Goose  rhymes  when  they  came 
to  me,  and  these  old  friends  were  soon  linked  up 
with  their  new  experiences  in  melody.  Sometimes 
they  sang  the  familiar  words  to  new  tunes;  some- 
times they  played  the  melody  on  some  instrument 


126         Original  Compositions 


merely  following  the  words  mentally,  and  some- 
times they  sang  as  they  played.  Music  Plate  II 
gives  a  musical  setting  for  "Goosey,  Goosey, 
Gander,"  which  Dorianne  (aged  five)  improvised 
at  the  glasses. 

The  improvising  of  melodies  on  the  different 
instruments  began  as  soon  as  the  children  could 
use  the  simplest  percussion  instruments.  The 
training  in  this  consisted  mainly  of  letting  the 
children  play  freely;  of  making  them  conscious  of 
the  melodies  they  had  played ;  of  guiding  them  to  a 
realization  of  form  in  their  expressions;  and  of 
helping  them  to  remember  their  compositions  in 
parts  and  as  wholes.  At  first,  of  course,  they  could 
not  remember  what  they  had  improvised.  To 
relieve  this  diflSculty,  I  gave  them  exercises  in 
improvising  phrases  that  were  no  longer  than  they 
could  remember  and  play  again  in  exactly  the  same 
way.  For  instance,  a  child  would  improvise  a 
phrase,  and  be  required  to  repeat  it  accurately.  If 
he  could  not  do  this,  he  must  try  a  shorter  phrase, 
or  still  shorter  one,  until  he  could  remember  one 
phrase  perfectly.  Then,  a  second  phrase  and  its 
repetition,  and  a  combination  of  the  two  phrases; 
and  so  on  through  his  composition.    When  he  was 


Original  Compositions 


127 


sure  tliat  a  phrase  or  a  composition  was  in  the  form 
he  wished  it  to  remain,  he  was  allowed  to  write  it 
down  in  the  simple  notation  as  explained  in  Chap- 
ter VII;  or,  if  he  was  unable  to  write  I  recorded  it 
for  him.  Often  a  child  stopped  in  the  middle  of  a 
composition  to  write  down  something  that  pleased 
him,  lest  he  lose  it;  and  sometimes,  rather  than  dis- 
turb a  thought  that  was  flowing  easily,  I  stood  near 
and  caught  on  paper  an  entire  improvisation  as  it 
was  played.  Frequently,  after  a  pleasing  melody 
had  been  made,  the  child  composed  words  to  fit 
it,  making  it  into  a  song. 

Alva's  Harp  Improvisation  is  a  fair  example  of 
melody  that  flows  spontaneously  from  the  child's 
fingers,  without  thought  of  words.  Alva,  aged 
six,  and  in  the  first  year  of  her  study,  stood  by  the 
harp  waiting  for  something,  and  without  warning 
I  heard  the  simple  little  tune  which  is  given  in 
Music  Plate  III  without  any  hesitation,  except  a 
little  in  the  last  line. 

One  day  little  Jane  (aged  six)  walked  across  the 
studio  with  the  air  of  a  quaint  little  Mid-Victorian 
lady,  and  in  keeping  with  the  picture  she  pre- 
sented to  the  eye,  improvised  on  the  glasses  a 
little  old-fashioned  gavotte.    See  Music  Plate  IV. 


128  Original  Compositions 


Often  the  children  employed  more  than  one  form 
of  improvisation  at  the  same  time,  as  the  words  and 
melody  of  a  song.  Bill  began  his  lessons  at  three 
years  of  age.  His  first  improvisation  in  both  song 
and  dance,  were  formless,  childish  expressions,  nat- 
ural to  all  children  at  that  age.  He  gradually 
learned  to  sing  in  tune,  and  was  very  fond  of  mak- 
ing melodies  on  all  simple  instruments.  Later,  these 
different  outlets  for  original  expression  were  united, 
and  he  would  compose  a  song,  singing  and  playing 
it  at  the  same  time.  As  a  specific  example  of  this, 
I  append  the  "Green  Bird"  (see  Music  Plate  V), 
which  he  composed  at  the  age  of  five  and  a  half 
years,  at  the  psaltery,  singing  the  song,  composing 
both  words  and  melody,  and  playing  it  all  at  the 
same  time.  The  spontaneous  amalgamation  of 
these  activities,  having  begun  so  early  in  his  life, 
had  acquired  for  him  a  new  language  in  which 
instrument,  hand,  voice,  and  mind  were  one. 

It  is  interesting  to  see  how  the  child's  personality 
is  expressed  in  his  compositions.  In  evidence  of 
this,  I  add  another  "Green  Bird"  (see  Music 
Plate  VI)  by  Margaret,  aged  six.  The  stimulus 
for  these  two  compositions  was  exactly  the  same — 
the  picture  of  a  bird  with  brilliant  green  plumage 


24.    The  Ancient  Egy|)tian  Slionldor  Harp  is  Revived  hy  the 
Help  of  a  Cart  Wheel 


Original  Compositions 


129 


— but  the  children's  reactions  being  different,  the 
compositions  took  on  entirely  different  characters. 

The  children  enjoyed  not  only  their  own  com- 
positions, but  one  another's  as  well,  and  often  when 
one  child  composed  something  very  attractive,  the 
other  children  wanted  to  learn  to  play  it  also.  The 
older  children  harmonized  their  own  compositions ; 
and  sometimes  I  harmonized  the  original  melodies 
of  the  younger  children  so  they  could  be  played  in 
parts,  which  delighted  them  very  much. 

Thinking  it  may  be  of  interest  to  some  of  the 
teachers  who  read  these  pages,  I  add  below  two  pro- 
grams given  by  practically  the  same  group  of  chil- 
dren in  two  consecutive  years  in  the  form  of  concerts 
to  their  families  and  friends.  All  the  numbers  were 
composed  by  the  children  and  played  by  them, 
either  as  solos  or  as  ensemble.  The  piano  num- 
bers on  the  first  program  may  seem  out  of  place  in 
company  with  such  simple  instruments,  but  these 
two  children  who  were  studying  improvisation  at 
the  piano  had,  I  felt,  a  distinct  contribution  to  an 
original  program.  It  may  be  seen  that  the  home- 
made violin,  monochord,  and  cello  of  the  first  pro- 
gram have  been  replaced  in  the  second  program 
by  modern  stringed  instruments. 
9 


130  Original  Compositions 


Program  of  Original  Compositions 
given 
May  22,  1920 
(Creative  Music  Studio,  New  York) 

WIND  INSTRUMENTS 

*A  Woodland  Melody  (on  Pipes  of  Pan)  Oren 

The  Wind  among  the  Reeds  (on  Chinese  Tche) .  .  Elizabeth 

A  Summer  Song  {on  Flageolet)  Oren 

A  Skipping  Tune  (on  Ocarina)  Elizabeth 

The  Bird's  Concert  (/or  Ocarinas)  composed  by  Bill 

played  by  Class 

Little  Bo-Peep  (Jor  two  Flageolets)  composed  by  Elizabeth 
played  by  Elizabeth  and  Florence 

PERCUSSION  INSTRUMENTS 


Sunday  Morning  (on  Vibrating  Rods)  Bill 

Improvisation  (on  Chinese  Gongs)  Margaret 

Thinking  of  Christmas  (on  Sleighbells)  Oren 

Over  the  Hills  (on  Glasses)  Margaret 

A  Bell  Song  (on  Swiss  Bells)  Elizabeth 

*The  Voice  of  Spring  (on  Marimba)  Oren 

A  Crystal  Chorus  (for  Glasses)  composed  by  Oren 

played  by  Class 


]^QTE. — *  Indicates  that  the  child  uses  an  instrument  made  by  himself. 
Each  solo  is  played  by  the  composer. 


Original  Compositions  131 


Program — Continued 
STRINGED  INSTRUMENTS 


A  Chinese  Story  {on  Kin)  Margaret 

A  Monkey  Song  (on  Cocoanut  Banjo)  Oren 

*Happy  Thoughts  {for  Lute)  Florence 

Time  to  Go  to  Sleep  {for  Irish  Harp)  Bill 

A  Birthday  Song  for  Sister  {for  Lyre)  Oren 

A  Lullaby  {for  Lyres)  composed  by  Florence 

played  by  Class 

*Just  a  Plain  Song  {on  Fiddle)  Margaret 

*Once  Long  Ago  (on  Monochord)  Florence 

*In  the  Evening  (on  Violin)  Elizabeth 

*The  Wreck  of  the  Hesperus  (on  Cello)  Charles 

Summer's  Coming  (on  Psaltery)  Bill 

(a)  The  Messenger 

(b)  Improvisation  {for  Piano)  Charles 

(a)  Cradle  Song 

(b)  Call  of  the  Desert 

(c)  The  Swallow  {for  Piano)  Madge 


The  Procession  {for  Piano  and  Orchestra) 

composed  by  Madge,  played  by  Class 
Now  I  Lay  Me  Down  to  Sleep  {for  Strings) 

composed  by  Elizabeth,  played  by  A  Family  Trio 
The  Swing  {for  Wind  and  Strings)  composed  by  Margaret 

played  by  Class 
A  Chinese  Painting  {for  Orchestra)  composed  by  Bill 

played  by  Class 


132  Original  Compositions 


Program  of  Original  Compositions 
given 
April  16,  1921 
(Creative  Music  Studio,  New  York) 

Songs — The  Daisy  ,  Margaret 

To  the  Green  Bird 

PERCUSSION  INSTRUMENTS 

Swiss  Bells — A  Bell  Song  Bill 

Marimbas — *A  Four-note  Melody  Alva 

*  Early  in  the  Morning  Oren 

The  Pink  Rose  (duet)  Bill 

Glasses — Two  Improvisations  Katharine 

(illustrating  first  creative  work  of  a  three-year-old  child) 

The  Hobby  Horse  Margaret 

A  Spanish  Dance  (trio)  Elizabeth 

Song — The  Indigo  Bunting  Alva 

WIND  INSTRUMENTS 

Ocarinas — A  Little  Bird  Song  Margaret 

Improvisation  on  Large  Ocarina  Bill 

Chinese  Flute — Melody  on  Whole-tone  Scale .  . .  Elizabeth 

Silver  Flute — Boat  Song  Florence 

On  the  Farm  Florence 


25.    Listening  to  the  Soft  Tones  of  the  Theljaii  Ilarp 


Original  Compositions 


133 


Program — Continued 


STRINGED  INSTRUMENTS 

Lyres — Snowflakes  (composed  on  a  snowy  day)  Alva 

The  Butterfly  (ensemble)  Margaret 

Butter-tub  Banjo — *A  Jig  Oren 

Cigar-box  Fiddles — *A  Song  Without  Words  Bill 

*  Melody  for  the  New  Fiddle .  Margaret 

*  Improvisation  Oren 

*Pasha,  my  Dog  (for  fiddle  quartet) 

Bill 

Psaltery — A  Christmas  Song  Bill 

A  March  Oren 

Harp — A  Harp  Improvisation  Alva 

Falling  Petals   Bill 

An  Irish  Tune  Margaret 

Modern  Violin — A  Dance  for  Brer  Rabbit  Elizabeth 

The  Purple  Cow  Florence 

Modern  Cello — An  Improvisation  Charles 

Quartet  of  Modern  Instruments — The  Green  Bird.  .  .  .Bill 

A  Hymn ....  Elizabeth 
Cradle  Song.  ..Florence 


Note. — *Indicates  that  the  child  uses  an  instrument  made  by  himself. 
After  each  number  only  the  composer's  name  is  given,  though  the  num- 
ber may  be  played  by  several  children. 


CHAPTER  IX 


A  WORD  ABOUT  RECITALS 

Public  musical  recitals  may  be  either  helpful  or 
harmful  to  children.  From  the  teacher's  stand- 
point they  are  necessary,  for  she  must  have  some 
way  of  showing  the  public  what  she  is  doing  in 
order  that  she  may  come  in  touch  with  those  who 
need  her  services,  and  that  she  may  thrive  in  her 
profession.  Parents,  too,  usually  consider  them 
necessary  for  their  own  information;  and  both 
parents  and  teachers  regard  public  recitals  as  a 
necessary  means  of  overcoming  stage-fright  and 
self-conscious  tendencies  in  the  child. 

As  a  matter  of  fact  recitals  do  not  always  help 
the  child  to  play  without  nervousness,  and  when 
experience  in  recital  playing  does  help  one  to  play 
his  best  without  embarrassment,  it  is  too  often 
because  of  self-confidence  resulting  from  flattery 
and  applause.  Not  always  does  it  bring  about  an 
ease  which  is  the  result  of  an  absorbed  interest  in 
the  performance.    But  of  course  it  all  goes  back  to 

134 


A  Word  About  Recitals  135 


the  motive  behind  our  work.  If  we  teach  for  pro- 
fessional reputation  and  if  pupils  practice  for  the 
approval  of  an  audience  or  for  mother's  praise, 
the  recital  seems  a  great  success  when  those  things 
are  realized.  The  more  public  approval  a  child 
receives,  the  more  his  sense  of  power  grows  into 
vanity,  and  his  ease  in  playing  is  not  always  from 
self-forgetfulness,  but  often  from  the  hypnotic 
power  of  self-conceit,  the  fear  of  the  audience  hav  - 
ing been  overcome  by  the  courage  of  egotism. 

There  is  obviously  a  great  power  for  good  in 
having  children  play  for  others  in  all  stages  of  their 
study,  and  if  a  child  can  acquire  enough  experience 
to  give  him  the  habit  of  playing  freely  for  others 
without  exalting  his  personality  and  feeding  his 
vanity,  this  experience  is  greatly  to  be  desired. 
Parents  often  misunderstand  the  effects  of  praising 
the  child's  playing,  and  I  have  known  children  to 
pout  after  coming  home  from  a  recital  until  both 
father  and  mother  had  praised  their  performances. 
From  the  very  beginning  of  a  child's  experiences  in 
playing  for  his  parents,  it  is  much  better  that  they 
should  show  their  appreciation  by  speaking  intelli- 
gently of  the  music  rather  than  of  how  well  he 
played  it.  If  parents  have  the  habit  of  keeping  the 
chUd's  person  in  the  foreground  when  he  plays,  it 


136        A  Word  About  Recitals 


will  be  very  hard  for  that  child  ever  to  forget  him- 
self in  playing  for  others.  Parental  pride  should 
be  restrained  or  redirected  in  the  interest  of  the 
child. 

I  have  made  several  experiments  in  the  form 
of  recitals,  but  I  do  not  profess  to  have  solved 
the  problem.  These  experiments,  however,  have 
seemed  helpful  to  my  pupils  and  I  pass  the  sug- 
gestions on. 

Holding  ideals  of  the  simplicity  and  intimacy  of 
music,  my  first  recitals  for  any  group  of  children 
are  always  "family  affairs,"  that  the  children  may 
first  learn  to  play  for  their  natural  audience,  the 
family.  Children  of  two  or  three  congenial  families 
are  often  grouped  together  for  their  concerts,  and 
as  much  home  atmosphere  brought  into  them  as 
possible.  These  intimate  family  concerts  come 
frequently  during  the  year,  and  each  time  the 
children  prepare  the  program,  planning  whatever 
they  think  the  family  would  most  enjoy. 

Much  ensemble  singing  and  playing  are  worked 
into  these  recitals,  for  I  believe  that  ensemble 
work  is  the  surest  way  to  help  a  child  acquire  the 
habit  of  forgetting  himself  in  public  playing, 
through  his  interest  in  the  thing  he  is  doing. 

Often  a  special  concert  is  arranged  as  a  compli- 


A  Word  About  Recitals  137 


ment  to  some  family  memoer.  One  of  my  groups 
had  several  children  in  it  who  were  related  to 
each  other,  having  the  same  grandfather,  A 
concert  for  grandfather's  birthday  was  arranged 
as  a  special  treat  for  him,  and  only  the  families 
of  this  group  were  present.  Each  child  thought  of 
his  playing  as  a  birthday  contribution  to  grandpa, 
and  although  the  concert  was  carried  out  in  regular 
concert  form  and  order  ("to  make  it  easier  for 
grandpa")  they  all  seemed  to  be  thinking  of  their 
contribution  to  him,  not  of  themselves,  and  played 
with  unconscious  ease. 

Christmas  surprises  to  their  families  in  the  form 
of  concerts  arranged  especially  for  them  have  given 
the  children  much  wholesome  pleasure,  with  the 
ever  present  idea  of  "giving"  behind  their  efforts. 
In  these,  also,  congenial  families  and  friends  were 
combined,  in  order  to  keep  the  feeling  of  intimacy 
in  the  concerts.  The  programs  of  these  concerts 
varied  according  to  the  children's  plans.  Some- 
times they  consisted  principally  of  singing  and 
dancing;  sometimes  all  forms  of  their  activities 
were  introduced,  and  sometimes  the  programs 
consisted  entirely  of  original  compositions. 

After  the  children  had  had  experience  in  playing 
for  their  families,  I  asked  the  parents  to  bring 


138         A  Word  About  Recitals 


friends  who,  they  thought,  would  really  enjoy  our 
concerts,  and  the  children  seemed  to  grow  quite 
naturally  into  playing  for  larger  audiences.  As 
a  precaution,  I  requested  the  parents  and  friends 
(in  the  children's  absence)  to  guard  carefully 
against  telling  the  children  that  they  played  well, 
but  rather  to  speak  of  their  enjoyment  of  the 
numbers  played,  keeping  the  children's  minds  on 
the  pleasure-giving  side  of  the  concert. 

The  kind  of  recitals  that  teachers  give  deter- 
mines, to  a  large  extent,  the  ideals  of  the  general 
public  in  regard  to  the  musical  training  of  children, 
for  it  is  through  recitals  that  the  teacher  reaches 
out  beyond  her  studio.  I  look  forward  with 
eagerness  to  the  day  when  family  concerts  are  the 
fashion,  and  when  one's  attempts  at  playing  are 
not  discouraged  because  one  cannot  play  in  public; 
when  fewer  students  are  motivated  by  the  dream  of 
virtuosity,  and  more  people,  everywhere,  play  for 
the  love  of  it. 


PART  III 
THE  OUTCOME 


139 


CHAPTER  X 


THE  PLACE  OF  CREATIVE  MUSIC  IN  EDUCATION 

What  is  to  be  the  outcome  of  all  this?  The  aim 

of  "Creative  Music"  is  to  place  the  child  in  such 

relation  to  the  manifold  Art  of  Music  as  will  enable 

the  study  and  employment  of  that  Art  to  serve 

in  its  fullest  capacity  the  purposes  of  education. 

A  complete  education  demands  the  development 

of  the  greatest  possible  independence  of  thought 

and  action  that  is  consistent  with  the  finest  social 

adjustment;  it  also  includes  technical  skill,  whole^ 

some  direction  of  the  emotions,  and  appreciation 

of  beauty.     If  an  individual's  knowledge  and 

powers  of   thinking  have   been   so  developed 

that  he  has  the  greatest  possible  independence  of 

the  thoughts  of  others;  if  his  own  mental  and 

physical  and  spiritual  resources  are  so  great  that 

he  can  be  free  to  act  as  he  thinks,  and  if  he  has 

the  skill  to  do  it  well;  if  all  this  power  is  balanced 

by  the  finest  social  adjustment,  with  all  that  that 

phrase  implies;  if  he  has  a  keen  appreciation  of 

141 


142  Place  of  Creative  Music  in  Education 


beauty;  and  if  he  directs  his  emotional  force  into 
channels  of  wholesome  expression,  then  that 
individual's  education  has  prepared  him  for  Hving. 

All  that  we  do  for  our  children  is,  in  some  way 
or  other,  meant  to  enrich  their  Uves  and  prepare 
them  for  the  experiences  which  Hfe  has  in  store  for 
them,  and  most  of  us  feel  that  musical  training 
comes  in  for  a  share  of  that  preparation.  But  I 
wonder  if  many  of  us  realize  how  largely  the  Art 
of  Music,  in  its  broad  sense,  can  contribute  to 
education.  It  has  a  power  of  its  own  that  no 
other  art  or  study  can  claim — a  power  so  elemental 
that  even  animals  are  affected  by  it,  and  the  child 
too  young  to  notice  any  other  art  is  strongly 
influenced  by  music.  At  the  same  time  it  is 
the  most  transcendental  of  the  arts,  through 
its  abstract  quality  being  capable  of  lifting  the 
mind  and  emotions  to  higher  planes  of  thought 
and  feeling.  Its  force  is  so  deeply  rooted,  so 
powerful;  its  history  so  interesting  and  its  field 
so  wide;  it  has  such  manifold  resources  and  crosses 
so  many  other  lines  of  man's  growth  and  achieve- 
ment, that  I  can  think  of  no  other  study  so  rich  in 
possibilities  for  the  development  of  the  individual 
and  society. 

In  my  efforts  to  make  music  serve  the  purposes 


Place  of  Creative  Music  in  Education  143 


of  education  I  have  not  lost  sight  of  the  fact  that 
childhood  is  short  and  that  there  are  many  other 
things  of  great  importance  in  the  child's  program; 
and  out  of  the  large  field  of  music's  development 
I  have  endeavored  to  select  those  things  which  are 
essential  to  a  comprehensive  understanding  and 
those  which  will  give  the  most  in  return  for  effort 
and  time  expended  on  them.  In  this  chapter  I 
shall  take  up  the  different  phases  of  the  work  and 
discuss  some  of  the  educational  results  which  I  hope 
to  have  children  gain  by  each  phase. 

I — The  Making  of  Instruments. 

When  the  idea  came  to  me  of  having  children 
first  employ  activities  suggested  by  the  course  of 
primitive  man  in  music,'  at  the  same  time  came 
the  thought  that  they  would  have  to  make  their 
own  instruments,  for  of  course  primitive  man  had 
to  make  his  instruments,  and  it  would  be 
impossible  for  us  to  know  what  early  man  knew, 
to  feel  what  he  felt,  to  discover  what  he  discovered, 

'  This  work  does  not  attempt  to  support  or  discuss  the  once  popular 
Recapitulation  Theory.  The  natural  evolution  of  music,  however,  does 
give  a  line  of  progression  from  simple  forms  upward,  which  is  especially 
suited  to  the  growing  capacities  of  the  child.  This  historical  back- 
ground has  supplied  the  field  from  which  I  have  selected  material  ac- 
cording to  the  child's  natural  reactions  rather  than  according  to  any 
succession  of  race  experiences,  and  with  no  concern  about  the  disputed 
points  between  musical  historians. 


144  Place  of  Creative  Music  in  Education 


or  to  develop  as  he  developed,  unless  we  also  used  our 
hands  and  found  out  through  experience  what  were 
his  problems,  his  discoveries,  and  his  joys.  My  ex- 
periments have  strengthened  the  belief  that  this 
form  of  work  contributes  to  real  and  basic  musical 
development  and  to  the  child's  broader  education 
as  well. 

A  child's  hands  are  the  tools  with  which  to  build 
even  his  mental  structure ;  they  ache  to  be  making 
something,  and  his  mind  is  never  so  active  as  when 
his  hands  are  doing  a  piece  of  constructive  work 
that  interests  him.  Every  nail  a  child  drives  and 
every  stroke  of  his  saw  is  building  up  his  mentality 
and  character  as  surely  as  the  instrument  is  being 
made.  The  value  of  constructive  handwork,  and 
of  action  in  every  phase  of  his  development  is 
emphasized  by  all  modern  psychologists  and  edu- 
cators, and  they  are  agreed  that  brain  learning 
which  is  not  coordinated  with  hand  learning  misses 
the  greater  part  of  its  power.  Of  what  avail  is  it 
for  the  brain  to  conceive  an  idea  if  the  hand  cannot 
bring  it  forth  in  living  form.?'  Thought  separated 
from  action  is  more  than  useless;  it  encourages  a 
wasting  of  emotional  power. 

Children  possess  the  healthy  instinct  of  cor- 
structiveness.    They  love  to  handle  materials  and 


Place  of  Creative  Music  in  Education  145 


tools,  and  to  effect  changes  in  material.  When  a 
child  makes  an  instrument,  the  activity  supplies 
its  own  drive.  If  the  motive  behind  the  work  is 
something  outside  the  piece  of  work  he  is  doing, 
he  is  subject  to  the  distraction  of  that  motive.  But 
in  the  manufacture  of  an  object  which  he  is  going  to 
use,  the  motive  is  held  together  in  the  very  work 
under  his  hands,  and  this  drive,  inherent  in  that 
special  activity,  carries  it  forward.  To  make 
a  musical  instrument  strikes  an  elemental  note  that 
interests — that  fascinates — every  child.  I  have 
never  seen  children  show  greater  delight  in  any 
constructive  work  than  in  the  making  of  musical 
instruments.  The  eagerness  to  know  how  it  will 
sound,  and  the  creative  joy  of  making  something 
with  a  voice — something  that  will  "talk  back"  to 
its  maker — can  not  accompany  the  making  of 
many  other  things. 

The  thrill  of  successful  accomplishment  in  instru- 
ment making  stimulates  other  creative  work  to  a 
remarkable  degree.  The  child  naturally  feels  that 
if  he  has  made  such  a  wonderful  and  useful  thing 
as  this,  of  course  he  can  make  other  wonderful  and 
useful  things.  And  since  he  has  made  his  own 
instrument,  how  natural  to  want  to  make  up  his 

own  tunes  to  play  on  it!    Any  child  loves  the 
10 


146  Place  of  Creative  Music  in  Education 


object  of  his  own  handiwork.  When  he  has  made  a 
musical  instrument  he  loves  to  handle  it,  to  play  on 
it,  to  improvise  on  it,  and  thus  a  subtle  intimacy  is 
established  between  the  child  and  his  instrument 
that  goes  over  into  all  music — for  his  work  covers 
all  types  of  instruments.  His  close  relationship 
to  music  is  preserved,  for  these  activities  keep  his 
instincts  involved  in  his  musical  experiences, 
instead  of  having  some  form  of  musical  knowledge 
superimposed  upon  him. 

In  the  making  of  an  instrument,  gratification 
comes  at  every  stage  in  the  process;  every  strip 
sawed  to  the  right  length  and  glued  where  it 
belongs,  every  surface  sand-papered,  gives  him 
a  realization  of  something  accomplished,  and  the 
"why"  can  be  realized  at  every  step.  Not  only 
does  he  feel  joy  and  self-respect  in  having  con- 
structed something  useful,  but  he  is  also  conscious 
of  a  power  which  is  a  wholesome  outlet  for  his 
natural  egotism.  If  a  child's  wish  to  feel  his  own 
power  is  not  realized  in  constructive  work  of  some 
kind,  he  will  usually  "take  it  out"  in  feeling  his 
power  over  other  people,  or,  perhaps,  over  the  cat. 

When  you  first  learned  to  cook  an  egg  and  make 
toast,  you  probably  experienced  a  feeling  of  great 
independence.    No  matter  what  happened  to  the 


Place  of  Creative  Music  in  Education  147 


cook,  now,  you  would  not  starve;  and  it  probably- 
stimulated  you  to  want  to  be  even  more  independ- 
ent. This  feeling  comes  also  to  the  child  who 
makes  his  own  musical  instrument.  If  all  the 
violin  makers  in  the  world  were  to  quit  work,  he 
would  not  want  for  a  fiddle  to  play,  and  he  is  also 
quite  independent  of  the  price  of  violins.  Thus  his 
sense  of  independence  grows. 

By  the  time  he  has  made  all  types  of  instruments 
he  knows  their  mechanical  construction,  and  also 
the  principle  of  the  mechanical  construction  of  all 
modern  orchestral  instruments  and  how  they  were 
developed;  and  knowing  them,  he  values,  appreci- 
ates, and  enjoys  them  more.  In  varying  degree, 
according  to  the  child,  he  has  acquired  mechanical 
skill,  hand  control  in  the  use  of  tools,  and  also 
accuracy  in  handwork,  for  in  many  instruments  the 
parts  must  fit  together  with  great  accuracy — "just 
so" — if  the  instrument  is  to  be  a  success.  He  has 
exercised  both  persistence  and  patience,  for  many 
instruments  require  a  long  time  to  make,  with 
intervals  in  between  for  the  glued  parts  to  dry.  Of 
his  own  accord  he  has  employed  his  power  of  con- 
centration. One  has  only  to  watch  a  child  at  work 
on  an  instrument  to  realize  how  thoroughly  his 
whole  being  is  concentrated  on  what  he  is  doing. 


148  Place  of  Creative  Music  in  Education 


"It  is  intense  effort  which  educates,"  as  Thorndike 
says. 

Work  of  this  nature  rouses  and  stimulates  the 
child's  love  of  mental  adventure.  He  has  the  right 
to  develop  his  own  resources  through  exploration 
and  experiment,  and  this  opens  the  way  for  him  to 
the  discovery  of  facts.  These  experiences  offer 
training  in  general  principles  which  he  may  broadly 
apply,  and  such  experiences  tend  to  make  him  better 
able  to  attack  new  problems  and  manage  them  to  a 
more  successful  issue.  In  this  constructive  work 
one  of  the  problems  he  must  meet  is  that  of  material 
for  his  instruments.  Primitive  man  did  not  have 
access  to  a  factory  for  ready  prepared  material  and 
neither  have  we.  The  child  must  use  his  imagi- 
nation and  see  in  the  everyday  things  about  him, 
material  which  he  can  adapt  to  his  needs.  If  the 
butter  tub  is  not  empty,  he  must  find  something 
else;  and  if  a  coffee-can  is  all  he  can  find,  then  he 
must  contrive  some  way  to  make  that  answer  the 
purpose.  He  must  be  resourceful  in  adapting 
simple  means  to  useful  ends,  and  keep  his  eyes  open. 
When  he  goes  to  the  woods,  especially,  he  must  be 
quick  to  perceive  a  musical  possibility,  for  that  is 
where  primitive  man  found  his  richest  treasures. 
As  his  experiences  progress  he  will  understand  the 


Place  of  Creative  Music  in  Education  149 


problems  of  early  man;  his  powers  of  exploration 
and  discovery  will  be  enlarged  and  his  thinking 
power  stimulated.  Since  he  must  invent  in  order 
to  accomplish,  he  must  maintain  a  practical,  inven- 
tive attitude.  As  he  feels  his  way  through  the 
Science  of  Music,  testing  and  applying  what  he 
discovers,  making  experiments  in  the  Physics  of 
Sound,  he  must  maintain  an  experimental  attitude; 
and  taking  cognizance  of  a  new  world  of  possibility 
open  to  him,  he  "learns  by  doing"  and  by  definite, 
thinking.  His  thoughts  take  visible  form  in  his 
instruments,  and  he  can  test  their  validity  imper- 
sonally. The  satisfactions  of  accomplishment  are 
a  drive  to  further  action.  The  man  who  builds  a 
bridge  of  stone  for  himself  and  others  to  pass  over, 
will  never  be  content  to  be  a  mere  dreamer. 

The  construction  of  musical  instruments  necessi- 
tates the  intelligent  correlation  of  music  with  the 
physics  of  sound  and  the  manual  arts.  It  also 
touches  the  history  of  different  peoples,  their 
practices  in  instrument  making,  and  the  world's 
geography  and  natural  resources.  The  more  a 
child's  knowledge  and  experiences  in  different 
fields  are  brought  into  harmony  and  corre- 
lated each  with  the  others,  the  broader  and 
more  unified  his  education  becomes,  the  deeper  is 


150  Place  of  Creative  Music  in  Education 


his  understanding,  and  the  better  his  adjustment 
to  Hfe.  I  know  of  nothing  which  more  directly 
and  perfectly  correlates  art,  science,  and  industry 
than  the  making  of  musical  instruments.  The 
craftsman  who  would  make  a  musical  instrument 
must  know  something  of  the  art  before  he  can  plan 
the  style  and  capacity  of  his  instrument;  he  must 
know  something  of  the  different  kinds  of  woods, 
strings,  etc.,  before  he  can  wisely  select  his 
material;  he  must  know  how  to  use  his  hands  and 
tools  also  before  he  can  construct  it;  and  he  must 
know  something  of  science  and  must  apply  its 
principles  before  he  can  "make  it  work." 

II. — The  Use  of  Primitive  Instruments. 

The  thought  of  using  primitive  instruments  came 
to  me  in  response  to  an  urgent  need  for  some  way 
to  gratify  the  little  child's  wish  to  make  music. 
And  I  found  that  it  did  gratify  his  wish — his  love 
for  playing  them  even  exceeded  my  expectations. 
One  day  in  the  studio  little  Katharine,  aged  three, 
realized  that  she  could  play  on  the  glasses,  with 
correct  rhythm  and  melody,  the  jSrst  two  phrases  of 
"Hop  my  Pony."  She  beamed  with  the  satis- 
faction of  real  accomplishment.  "Let  me  do  it 
again! "  she  exclaimed,  and  when  that  was  finished. 


Place  of  Creative  Music  in  Education  151 


"Again!"  she  begged.  I  stood  near  and  let  her 
do  as  she  wished,  and  without  a  word  from  anyone, 
she  played  it  all  through  fifteen  times  without 
stopping!  But  this  is  only  one  of  countless 
instances  that  indicate  the  little  child's  love  of 
making  melody  on  simple  instruments,  and  his 
persistence  in  musical  experience.  Everyone  can 
see  the  importance,  says  Thorndike,  of  "being  able 
to  be  satisfied  by  the  good  elements  of  what  one 
produces"  in  the  process  of  learning.  I  feel  that 
such  satisfaction  in  accomplishment  is  especially 
valuable  to  little  children. 

One's  real  development  always  comes  from 
experience.  Musical  experiences  are  essential  to 
musical  growth.  Those  of  us  who  merely  listen 
are  not  the  musical  ones;  we  must  handle  the 
materials  and  make  the  sounds  ourselves  to  be 
musical.  But,  of  course,  so  long  as  the  piano  and 
the  violin  are  the  only  instruments  we  teach  our 
children,  then  the  very  young  child — excepting,  of 
course,  the  especially  gifted  one — must  stand  out- 
side the  pale  of  instrumental  experience,  and  look 
on  with  hungry,  longing  eyes,  or  else  try  it  with 
unhappy  results.  But  if  we  give  him  music  which 
is  within  his  own  grasp  instead  of  expecting  him  to 
understand  ours,  we  shall  find  him  an  enthusiastic 


152  Place  of  Creative  Music  in  Education 


player.  And  he  needs  to  play  while  he  is  yet  too 
young  for  the  difficult  instruments. 

Modern  psychologists  attach  a  great  deal  of 
importance  to  the  influence  of  the  first  five  or  six 
years  of  the  child's  life,  for  during  that  time  is 
shaped  the  pattern  for  his  emotional  life.  Music 
touches  our  emotions  more  deeply  than  other  arts 
or  studies,  and  the  music  of  the  first  five  or  six 
years  should  be  so  planned  that  the  child's 
emotions  and  his  attitude  toward  all  music  will  re- 
sult in  the  most  wholesome  development.  The  in- 
fluences in  his  life  at  this  age  determine,  perhaps 
in  greater  measure  than  we  like  to  think,  the 
things  that  will  move  him  most  and  stimulate  him 
most;  they  determine  his  tendencies  of  mind  and 
his  attitude  toward  things.  The  preservation  of 
the  child's  natural  enthusiasm  for  music  greatly 
accelerates  the  development  of  skill;  and  later  on, 
this  enthusiasm  will  carry  him  over  that  stage  of 
acquiring  technique,  which  would  otherwise  seem 
to  be  the  dullest  routine.  Since  the  acquirement  of 
skill  and  understanding  is  so  influenced  by  one's 
attitude  towards  the  subject,  and  since  the  attitude 
is  established  so  early,  we  can  easily  see  how 
important  is  the  training  of  these  first  few  years, 
especially  in  music.    Often,  without  our  knowing 


Place  of  Creative  Music  in  Education  153 


it,  there  is  formed  in  childhood  an  attitude  towards 
music  which  greatly  hinders  musical  power  in 
after  years,  and  sometimes  even  destroys  enjoy- 
ment of  the  art.  The  acquisition  of  facts,  such  as 
the  multiplication  table,  can  come  at  any  time,  and 
it  has  been  proved  to  us  that  a  child  can  start  his 
academic  education  at  nine  years  of  age  and  soon 
catch  up  with  the  child  who  had  several  years  the 
start  of  him.  But  his  tendencies  and  emotional  re- 
actions begin  early  and  must  be  carefully  guarded. 
This  is  the  time  to  form  habits  of  musical  expres- 
sion, to  establish  associations  and  give  experiences 
that  will  link  up  with  other  fundamental  experi- 
ences and  make  music  something  vital  and  tangible 
for  him.  This  early  intimacy  with  music  he  will 
never  lose,  and  it  will  be  a  means  of  happiness  and 
comfort  to  him  all  his  life. 

These  early  years  of  the  child's  development 
correspond  to  the  stage  of  primitive  music  and  the 
simplest  of  instruments.  The  music  of  the  child- 
hood of  the  race  belongs  to  him  while  he  is  yet  a 
little  child.  This  is  the  time  he  must  sing  and 
dance,  and  play  upon  instruments  that  make  no 
technical  demands,  and  only  such  melodies  as  his 
small  brain  can  understand.  His  intellectual 
growth  is  gradual.    As  the  simple  elementary 


154  Place  of  Creative  Music  in  Education 


capacities  of  his  mind  are  enlarged  by  experiences 
suited  to  those  capacities,  we  can  gradually  lead 
him  to  larger  and  larger  musical  experiences.  But 
if  his  musical  education  is  to  be  at  all  effective,  it 
must  suit  his  capacities  as  determined  by  the  stage 
of  his  development. 

The  art  teacher  does  not  give  a  child  a  stretched 
canvas  to  paint  on,  but  the  simplest  smooth  sur- 
face she  can  find — a  big  sheet  of  paper  or  a  sidewalk 
or  a  blackboard — and  there  the  child  freely  ex- 
presses, in  bold  grotesque  figures,  the  primitive 
art  that  is  in  him.  The  drawings  of  the  six-year-old 
child  show  him  to  be  in  a  stage  of  artistic  develop- 
ment analogous  to  the  stage  of  tom-toms,  simple 
pipes,  and  most  primitive  stringed  instruments. 
His  musical  as  well  as  his  drawing  experiences 
must  be  in  the  stage  that  corresponds  to  his  general 
development. 

Heretofore  in  most  of  our  instrumental  training 
for  children,  we  have  forced  the  child  to  skip  a  very 
important  and  a  very  broad  stage  in  his  indigenous 
musical  evolution.  We  have  urged  him  while  still 
in  swaddling  clothes  to  take  on  adult  culture,  as 
one  who  would  try  to  teach  a  savage  to  drive  an 
automobile  before  he  has  had  any  simpler  experi- 
ences with  machinery.    The  use  of  primitive  and 


Place  of  Creative  Music  in  Education  155 


other  instruments  may  fill  this  gap  so  that  no  links 
are  missing  in  the  chain  of  his  experiences  from  his 
most  rudimentary  capacity  as  an  infant  to  his  full- 
grown  adult  powers. 

It  has  been  my  aim  to  make  music  so  simple  that 
every  child  may  be  able  to  play.  The  Greeks  have 
shown  us  that  the  use  of  music  may  be  made 
universal  if  it  is  only  simple  enough;  and  if  we  ask 
for  essential  simplicity,  we  too  may  make  music 
the  possession  of  many — not  the  privilege  of  a 
few.  But  its  present  complexity  of  training  keeps 
all  but  the  veneer  away  from  the  masses.  Why 
should  singing  or  dancing  or  playing  be  reserved 
for  those  who  seem  to  have  a  special  gift.^*  Every 
child  should  have  much  experience  in  all  three 
of  these  things.  The  possession  of  talent  may  be 
a  large  factor  in  what  a  child  shall  play,  but  cer- 
tainly not  in  whether  a  child  shall  play.  It  is  my 
belief  that  somewhere  in  the  wide  scope  of  music, 
somewhere  along  the  path  of  its  development, 
there  lies  an  instrument  suited  to  the  capacity  of 
every  child — of  everyone,  for  that  matter — if  we 
could  only  find  it.  What  better  way  is  there  to 
find  it  than  to  have  the  child  follow  the  entire  path 
from  the  very  beginning?  And  if  his  natural 
capacity  for  musical  experience  is  so  limited  that  he 


i5<^  Place  of  Creative  Music  in  Education 


cannot  find  pleasure  in  playing  anything  more 
difficult  than  the  drum  and  a  tin  fife,  then  those 
are  his  instruments;  let  him  play  them  until,  by 
growth  from  experience,  he  is  ready  for  something 
a  little  more  advanced.  And  experience  will  de- 
velop his  capacity  and  lift  his  musical  level. 

Mr.  Seashore  has  made  a  valuable  contribution 
to  the  musical  field  in  enabling  us  to  find  even  be- 
fore study,  whether  or  not  a  child  has  the  keenness 
of  sense  discrimination  that  will  justify  specialized 
musical  training.  He  has  also  pointed  out  that  the 
power  of  sense  discrimination  (in  pitch,  for  in- 
stance) cannot  be  much  improved  by  training. 
Other  psychologists  also  claim  that  sensory  dis- 
crimination cannot  be  greatly  improved  beyond  a 
certain  point  by  training.  Mr.  Seashore's  contri- 
bution will  probably  save  much  agonizing  over 
instruments  ill  suited  to  one's  capacity,  and  much 
time  uselessly  spent,  for  it  is  evident  that  it  is 
useless  to  expect  some  persons  to  play  certain  in- 
struments that  require  keen  pitch  discrimination, 
as  for  instance,  the  violin. 

But  does  it  then  follow  that  these  less  gifted 
children  are  to  be  denied  all  musical  expression? 
There  are  instruments  that  lie  wholly  within  their 
capacity — instruments  with  fixed  pitch  and  requir- 


Place  of  Creative  Music  in  Education  157 


ing  no  great  keenness  of  sense  perception  and  no 
great  technical  skill  to  play.  This  is  the  field  for 
them.  Why  not  let  them  occupy  it?  If  a  child's 
sense  of  perception  in  music  is  very  low  he  may  be 
barred  from  high  artistic  expression  with  all  types 
of  wind  and  stringed  instruments,  but  there  are 
still  left  for  him  the  percussion  instruments  of  fixed 
tone,  and  the  experience  of  making  and  experiment- 
ing with  wind  and  stringed  instruments.  There  are 
also  many  stringed  instruments  which,  when  already 
in  tune,  require  no  great  keenness  of  ear  to  play. 

The  child  of  no  talent  needs  to  play  as  much  as 
anyone  else;  sometimes  his  need  is  greater.  More- 
over, who  can  say  to  what  extent  musical  capacity 
can  be  cultivated,  if  we  only  begin  early  enough.'* 
I  believe  that  it  is  only  a  matter  of  degree,  and  that 
every  normal  person  has  some  capacity  which  can 
be  enlarged  if  we  find  its  level  and  build  upon  it 
from  that  point,  especially  if  we  start  very  early  in 
the  child's  life.  In  my  attempts  to  make  music 
simple  enough  for  every  child  to  experience,  one  of 
my  greatest  compensations  has  been  in  seeing  the 
so-called  unmusical  child  beam  with  pleasure  when 
he  finds  that  he  can  really  play  something — when 
he  sees  that  music-making  is  not  a  hopeless  thing 
even  for  him. 


158  Place  of  Creative  Music  in  Education 


It  is  my  opinion  that  too  much  ado  has  been 
made  over  the  talented  children,  and  that  the 
others  have  been  too  much  neglected.  Conse- 
quently, we  usually  find  the  talented  child  with  an 
over-developed  ego,  and  after  all,  not  any  hap- 
pier than  if  he  had  had  no  talent.  Professional 
musicians  are  growing  more  and  more  numerous 
and  simple  home-made  music  is  quite  out  of 
fashion. 

Dr.  Grosse  (in  The  Beginnings  of  Art)  states 
that  "the  sense  of  rhythm  has  undoubtedly  been 
developed  through  the  primitive  instrumental 
music."  It  has  been  my  observation  that  the  use 
of  such  instruments  is  of  great  value  in  cultivat- 
ing not  only  the  sense  of  rhythm,  but  the  tonal 
sense  as  well,  and  is  a  definite  aid  in  the  child's  con- 
trol of  his  singing  voice. 

It  is  by  the  use  of  these  simple  instruments  that 
very  young  children  can  have  their  first  experiences 
in  ensemble  playing.  I  find  that  some  children  as 
young  as  four  years  of  age  adjust  themselves  well 
to  the  playing  of  others,  and  all  children  love 
ensemble  playing.  A  grown-up  orchestra  would 
scorn  the  use  of  such  instruments  as  flageolets, 
ocarinas,  and  psalteries,  but  these  things  have 
their  place  in  the  music  of  the  world,  and  should 


Place  of  Creative  Music  in  Education  159 


be  used  where  they  best  serve  their  purpose.  They 
belong  to  childhood. 

To  some  who  have  not  employed  training  of  this 
kind  for  children,  it  may  appear  that  the  use  of 
primitive  and  crude  instruments  may  retard  the 
development  of  the  child's  sense  of  beauty;  it  may 
seem  out  of  keeping  with  the  present  day  idea  of 
surrounding  the  child  with  perfected  forms  of 
beauty  of  all  kinds.  But  in  reality  I  have  found 
only  cultural  effects.  The  fact  that  the  instru- 
ments are  constantly  progressing  toward  more 
refined  means  of  expression  seems  to  give  even  a 
very  young  child  the  impetus  of  reaching  toward 
an  ever-growing  ideal  which  is  not  so  far  above 
him  that  he  can  not  understand  it.  The  progres- 
sion of  these  instruments  is  also  responsible  for  a 
keener  appreciation  of  the  difference  between  the 
crude  and  the  refined,  and  the  child  who  follows 
this  progression  comes  into  an  appreciation  of  the 
higher  forms  of  music  that  is  wider  and  more 
discriminating  from  being  based  on  experience  in 
all  the  stages  leading  thereto.  The  enjoyment  and 
appreciation  of  any  art  is  greatest  when  it  is  based 
on  active  and  intelligent  experiences  in  the  develop- 
ment of  that  art,  and  my  experience  has  led  me 
to  believe  that   the  children  who  follow  the 


i6o  Place  of  Creative  Music  in  Education 


intellectual  processes  of  music's  development  will 
also  show  a  similar  development  in  taste  and 
appreciation  of  beauty. 

Literature  has  its  Mother  Goose,  that  children 
may  enjoy  things  suited  to  the  childish  mind. 
Primitive  songs  and  instruments  are  music's 
Mother  Goose,  not  for  museums  and  collectors  to 
hoard,  but  for  children  to  enjoy. 

III. — Why  Creative  Music  Includes  all  Types  of 
Instruments. 

No  attempt  to  give  the  child  a  real  understand- 
ing of  the  development  of  music  would  be  effectual 
without  giving  him  experience  in  the  use  of  all 
types  of  instruments.  His  intellectual  under- 
standing of  the  wide  scope  of  the  art,  of  how  it 
grew  from  small  beginnings,  and  of  how  our  modern 
instruments  were  finally  evolved,  depends  upon  the 
actual  use  of  these  instruments.  The  Physics  of 
Sound  in  its  varying  manifestations  has  a  practical 
meaning  for  him  if  he  uses  the  materials  that 
demonstrate  its  principles.  His  experiments  will 
enable  him  to  hold  a  scientific  attitude  towards 
music  as  a  science,  while  his  use  of  the  instruments 
will  at  the  same  time  foster  an  appreciative  attitude 


33.    Tlie  Hird's-Xcst  Lute 


Place  of  Creative  Music  in  Education  i6i 


toward  music  as  an  art,  and  enable  him  the  better 
to  appreciate  and  enjoy  all  beauty. 

By  using  all  types  of  instruments  the  child's 
interest  naturally  goes  out  to  the  people  who  first 
developed  each  type,  and  a  wide  correlation  of 
other  subjects  may  result. 

How  better  than  by  experience  in  the  use  of 
all  types  of  instruments  can  the  child  come  into 
an  understanding  and  appreciation  of  modern 
orchestral  instruments,  and  orchestral  music?  To 
have  known  and  maintained  pleasant  relations  with 
a  person's  ancestors  gives  one  a  feeling  of  intimate 
understanding  of  the  person  himself,  and  an 
affectionate  interest  in  him.  The  same  thing  holds 
with  musical  instruments.  The  child  who  has 
made  a  wheat-straw  oboe  and  played  upon  it  will 
recognize  the  same  reedy  quality  of  tone  when  the 
modern  oboe  appears  in  a  Dvorak  Symphony,  and 
the  kinsmen  of  his  cigar-box  fiddle  will  speak  to 
him  intimately  from  the  violin  stands.  In  the 
presence  of  the  great  Orchestra  he  is  in  a  beloved 
country  of  familiar  voices  where  more  than  he 
could  ever  dream,  comes  true. 

Perhaps  the  most  important  result  from  having  a 
child  use  all  types  of  instruments  is  that  of  enabling 
him  to  find  out  by  experience — the  only  sure  way — 

IZ 


i62  Place  of  Creative  Music  in  Education 


what  is  his  most  congenial  instrument.  Many  a 
child  wastes  hours  of  labor  struggling  with  an 
instrument  for  which  he  is  naturally  unsuited; 
whereas  the  right  instrument  would  give  him 
greater  joy  with  less  effort.  Even  aside  from  their 
physical  and  musical  capacity,  children,  as  well  as 
grown-ups,  have  individual  preferences  in  regard 
to  instruments,  and  experience  with  all  types  will 
make  it  possible  for  the  child  to  choose  intelligently 
that  one  which  appeals  to  him  most.  It  is  of  as 
much  importance  in  one's  artistic  life  to  find  the 
right  musical  instrument  as  it  is  in  one's  business 
life  to  find  the  right  vocation. 

By  following  in  one's  playing  the  development 
from  simple  to  more  complex  instruments,  the 
coordination  of  hand  and  mind  is  more  complete, 
and  the  development  of  this  coordination,  as  well 
as  one's  musical  growth,  is  more  natural  and 
thorough. 

Varied  musical  experiences  lead  to  generaliza- 
tions which  are  full  of  meaning.  In  this  phase  of 
Creative  Music  there  is  obtained  a  Positive  Trans- 
fer of  Training,  because  the  experiences  over- 
lap and  strengthen  the  associations.  Principles 
once  learned  may  be  applied  in  many  different 
ways.    A  melody  is  not  associated  with  any  parti- 


Place  of  Creative  Music  in  Education  163 


cular  instrument;  it  is  an  arrangement  of  tones  as 
to  pitch,  rhythm,  form,  and  feeling,  that  may  be 
applied  to  different  kinds  of  instruments.  In 
studying  the  tone  qualities  of  different  instruments, 
the  ear  is  developed  to  its  greatest  acuteness,  and 
in  trying  out  different  melodies  in  different  qualities 
of  tone,  the  sense  of  fitness  as  to  music  and  instru- 
ment and  the  selective  power  are  exercised. 

Another  consideration  is  the  variety  in  skill  to  be 
thus  obtained.  To  cite  an  example:  One  day  I 
gave  a  new  song  to  little  Margaret,  aged  seven,  and 
timed  her  by  the  clock  to  see  how  long  it  would 
take  her  to  learn  it  perfectly.  It  was  a  little 
English  folk  song  of  four  phrases,  and  I  taught  it  to 
her  by  rote,  as  she  knew  nothing  of  note  reading. 
In  nine  minutes  from  the  time  I  first  began  singing 
this  song  to  her,  she  had  learned  to  sing  it  perfectly 
and  had  played  it  correctly,  without  a  single 
inaccuracy  as  to  note  or  rhythm,  on  nine  instru- 
ments, namely,  the  glasses,  Swiss  bells,  sleigh-bells, 
psaltery,  lyre,  flageolet,  fiddle,  harp,  and  marimba, 
transferring  the  melody  just  as  easily  to  one  instru- 
ment as  to  another.  This  was  by  no  means  an 
unusual  effort  or  feat.  At  this  lesson  I  just 
happened  to  time  her  from  curiosity. 

It  is  interesting  to  watch  Bill — aged  five — make 


1 64  Place  of  Creative  Music  in  Education 


his  first  attempt  at  applying  a  newly  learned 
melody  to  different  instruments.  By  watching 
the  movements  of  his  hands,  you  can  almost  see  his 
brain  working;  see  him  correct  a  false  movement 
before  the  note  is  actually  sounded,  and  hurry  to 
the  next  to  catch  the  note  on  the  proper  beat,  per- 
haps stopping  a  moment  and  humming  to  clear  up 
a  difficult  phrase.  The  look  of  complete  absorp- 
tion on  his  face  convinces  you  that  his  intelligence 
is  back  of  every  movement,  and  that  his  attention 
is  held  by  natural,  self-driven  interest. 

If  the  study  of  different  instruments  were  more 
universal,  the  members  of  a  family  would  have  an 
opportunity  to  strengthen  home  ties  in  chamber 
music  combinations,  group  playing  among  friends 
would  be  the  source  of  untold  pleasure,  and  sen- 
sational "movies"  would  not  be  such  a  frequent 
necessity  in  the  lives  of  young  people.  It  is  by  the 
diffusion  of  the  knowledge  of  all  types  of  instru- 
ments that  we  will  be  able  to  furnish  a  wholesome 
and  constructive  emotional  outlet  for  everybody. 

In  this  connection  I  wish  to  give  the  division  of 
Wind  Instruments  Sispecialpsiragraphjor  they  have, 
as  I  believe,  a  particular  value  in  education  and  have 
been  especially  neglected.  To  play  any  breath- 
blown  instrument  well,  requires  breath  control, 


Place  of  Creative  Music  in  Education  165 


which  means  conscious  or  unconscious  control  of 
the  diaphragm,  intercostal  muscles,  and  other 
muscles  of  the  trunk  and  chest  cavity,  and  these 
are  not  directly  involved  in  playing  percussion  and 
stringed  instruments.  Breath  control  makes  self- 
control  easier.  One  of  the  most  direct  ways  of 
gaining  poise,  equanimity,  and  serenity  is  by  proper 
breath  control.  The  Hindus  have  for  hundreds 
of  years  recognized  this  truth,  and  as  we  know, 
have  accomplished  marvelous  things  through  the 
use  of  that  knowledge. 

It  is  said  that  horn  and  trumpet  players  are 
longer  lived  than  other  people,  no  doubt  because 
of  the  power  of  these  activities  to  keep  the  lungs 
in  fine  condition.  In  this  connection  I  recall  an 
incident  which  seems  to  indicate  that  even  a 
limited  use  of  wind  instruments  increases  lung 
power.  In  a  certain  school  the  breathing  capacity 
of  all  the  pupils  was  taken.  Two  of  these  children, 
in  different  grades,  had  had  experience  in  playing 
upon  simple  wind  instruments  in  my  studio,  and 
each  of  these  made  the  highest  record  for  lung 
capacity  in  her  group.  There  were  no  apparent 
reasons  why  this  should  have  been  so  except  the 
fact  that  they  had  had  those  musical  experiences. 

Wind  instruments  have  a  sympathetic  power 


i66  Place  of  Creative  Music  in  Education 


that  seems  almost  human.  Next  to  one's  own 
voice  they  respond  most  quickly  to  one's  feelings, 
being  operated  by  that  great  companion  and 
servant  of  the  emotions,  the  breath.  A  unique 
personal  intimacy  is  established  between  the  player 
and  the  instrument  which  he  plays  by  the  power 
of  his  breath. 

Wind  instruments  require  that  full  attention  be 
paid  to  the  tone,  especially  when  one  is  just  begin- 
ning to  use  them.  The  breath  pressure  must  be 
regulated  to  meet  the  requirements  of  the  tone,  for 
variations  in  pressure  affect  not  only  the  volume, 
but  often  the  pitch.  So  mental  concentration  is 
necessary  as  well  as  careful  listening.  In  playing 
the  ocarina,  for  instance,  the  child  must  "think  the 
tone"  which  he  wishes  to  make,  and  adjust  his 
breath  force  to  make  the  tone  true  to  the  pitch  he  is 
thinking;  otherwise  he  may  be  playing  a  half -step 
out  of  tune.  It  is  interesting  to  observe  that  if 
one  "thinks  the  tone,"  the  breath  pressure  seems 
to  adjust  itself  reflexly  for  the  production  of  that 
tone. 

All  this  probably  sounds  difficult  for  a  child, 
but  in  reality  children  seem  to  adjust  themselves 
to  the  requirements  more  easily  than  grown-ups; 
their  reflex  responses  seem  to  serve  them  better. 


34.    There  is  a  Time  and  a  Place  Even  for  the  Cornstalk  Fiddle 


Place  of  Creative  Music  in  Education  167 


and  it  is  surprising  how  rapidly  they  acquire  the 
necessary  power  of  control  if  they  begin  on  instru- 
ments that  are  simple  enough.  Besides,  when  a 
child  begins  wind  instruments  he  has  already  had 
experience  in  playing. 

The  contribution  which  these  instruments  make 
towards  acquiring  coordination  both  in  the  physi- 
cal and  the  general  sense,  is  very  great.  I  have  in 
mind  one  child  of  eight  years  who  had  naturally 
very  poor  physical  coordination.  Her  first 
attempts  to  play  the  flageolet  made  it  seem  quite 
hopeless.  The  instrument  which,  in  playing  posi- 
tion, must  be  held  up  by  the  fingers  of  both  hands, 
with  one  end  in  the  mouth,  constantly  fell  into  her 
lap,  for  her  lips  and  hands  seemed  quite  unable  to 
operate  together.  But  soon  the  lips  learned  to  do 
their  part,  and  gradually  were  added  breath  and 
finger  control,  and  now  at  ten  years  of  age,  after 
having  made  and  played  upon  all  types  of  instru- 
ments within  these  two  years,  she  has  chosen  a 
wind  instrument,  the  flute,  as  the  one  she  loves  the 
best  of  all. 

In  the  use  of  all  types  of  instruments  technical 
training  is  deferred. — Specialized  training  has  no 
place  in  the  curriculum  of  the  young  child,  and  this 
is  particularly  true  in  music.    Five  finger  exercises 


i68  Place  of  Creative  Music  in  Education 


and  scales  are  the  bane  of  the  eiiistence  of  many 
children  who,  because  of  these  things,  are  slowly 
but  surely  building  up  negative  reactions  to  some- 
thing that  could  yield  them  great  service  and 
happiness  if  those  reactions  were  positive. 

The  child  sees  no  reasons,  other  than  superficial 
ones,  for  technical  exercises;  he  has  no  instinctive 
impulse  towards  them  and  they  are  not  elemental 
enough  to  interest  him.  If  the  child's  experiences 
are  to  be  truly  constructive,  they  must  be  moti- 
vated by  desires  from  the  inside,  not  from  outside 
persuasion;  if  he  has  no  inner  urge  to  acquire  skill 
in  playing  an  instrument,  the  time  he  spends  in 
practice  is  more  than  wasted,  for  it  warps  the  music 
that  is  in  him. 

The  spontaneity  of  one's  playing  always  suffers 
when  technique  has  to  be  considered.  Of  all  arts 
music  is  the  most  spontaneous,  and  in  that  very 
quality  lies  much  of  its  power.  But  neither  a 
child  nor  an  adult  can  play  freely,  feeling  what  he 
plays,  and  playing  what  he  feels,  if  he  must  think 
of  hand  position  or  mode  of  attack,  or  of  how  to 
manipulate  several  fingers  at  once.  When  simple 
instruments  are  used,  no  special  technical  training 
is  necessary,  and  any  fairly  well  coordinated  child 
has  all  the  natural  technique  that  is  necessary  in 


Place  of  Creative  Music  in  Education  169 


playing  these.  As  he  progresses  to  more  difficult 
instruments  his  power  grows  with  them,  and  when 
he  reaches  something  that  is  hard  to  do,  he  natur- 
ally wishes  to  practice  it  until  he  overcomes  the 
difficulty,  and  makes  it  go  as  easily  as  his  other 
playing.  Specialization  should  be  the  last  stage  in 
the  child's  training  in  any  subject,  and  in  music 
there  is  yet  time  enough  for  it  after  the  child  has 
been  saturated  with  all  kinds  of  musical  experi- 
ences— when,  backed  by  intelligent  understanding, 
he  has  chosen  his  special  instrument. 

It  is  a  sad  sight  to  see  a  child  of  any  age  strug- 
gling with  something  that  was  meant  for  older  hands 
and  minds,  even  though  he  may  be  able  to  effect 
results.  What  will  it  profit  a  child  to  be  able  to 
play  a  Beethoven  Sonata  at  the  age  of  ten  if  it 
means  that  he  has  been  given  artificial  stimulation 
and  has  spent  hours  of  weary  practice  in  order  to  do 
it?  Many  bright  children  may  be  drilled  to  do 
this,  but  it  does  not  always  mean  that  Beethoven 
will  be  a  joy  to  them  twenty  years  later. 

The  musical  training  that  permeates  the  heart  is 
the  training  that  is  going  to  stay.  The  wish  to 
play,  the  disposition  to  inquire  further  into  music, 
and  the  habit  of  finding  joy  in  the  making  of  music 
are  the  things  which  will  make  the  child  musical, 


170  Place  of  Creative  Music  in  Education 


and  not  the  technical  skill  that  is  drilled  into  him. 
If  his  love  for  playing  is  fed  now,  then  later,  after 
he  has  chosen  his  special  instrument,  he  will  see  a 
reason  and  feel  a  desire  for  technical  skill,  and  it 
will  come  easily  because  it  will  be  motivated  by  its 
own  inherent  drive. 

IV. — Dancing. 

The  reasons  for  incorporating  dancing  in  my 
music  lessons  were  given  in  an  earlier  chapter. 
No  one  in  these  days  has  to  be  convinced  of  the 
educational  value  of  Folk  Dances;  and  dancing  in 
its  best  sense  has  received  so  much  encouragement 
from  educators  during  the  last  twenty  years,  its 
beneficent  effects  have  been  proved  so  often,  that 
it  is  not  necessary  for  me  to  dilate  upon  its  value. 

If  one  should  ask  how  the  special  form  of  dancing 
indicated  in  Chapter  V  as  a  part  of  "Creative 
Music"  serves  the  purposes  of  education,  perhaps 
my  first  answering  thought  would  be:  It  reunites 
twin-sister  arts  that  have  already  been  too  long 
separated  in  early  training;  it  gives  to  music  its  own 
natural  foundation ;  restores  the  primeval  intimacy 
of  man  and  music;  and  unifies  Art,  Spirit,  Mind, 
and  Body. 

Since  music  began  with  rhythmic  movement, 


Place  of  Creative  Music  in  Education  171 


and  has  developed  as  a  part  of  the  dance  and  con- 
tributing to  it,  the  presence  of  one  always  suggests 
the  presence  of  the  other.  The  child  who  has 
dancing  experiences  from  the  most  elementary 
forms  upward,  is  made  more  susceptible  to  music, 
and  together  the  two  arts  may  develop  in  him  as 
one  art,  founded  on  the  original,  generic  basis  of 
rhythm.  These  experiences  make  it  possible  for 
him  to  preserve  the  natural  inborn  rhythmic  sense 
and  to  develop  his  musical  instincts  in  natural 
order,  instead  of  forcing  them  too  soon  away  from 
their  native  soil.  First  without  form,  then  with 
gradually  more  and  more  formal  complexity,  the 
two  may  be  correlated  in  every  stage  of  devel- 
opment, each  one  helping  and  sustaining  the 
other. 

To  reach  a  complete  understanding  of  music, 
one  should  have  personal  experience  with  dance 
rhythms  and  forms.  One  can  feel  the  fullest  intel- 
lectual and  emotional  response  to  a  musical  com- 
position only  when  it  is  possible  for  one's  nerves  to 
add  from  former  experience,  a  "motor  interpretation 
and  exhilaration." 

Dancing  involves  great  activity  of  both  mind  and 
body,  and  is  perhaps  the  best  illustration  of  men- 
tal and  physical  coordination.    A  well  developed 


172  Place  of  Creative  Music  in  Education 


sense  of  bodily  rhythm  also  enables  one  to  apply 
rhythmic  motion  and  to  conserve  energy  in  many 
other  manual  activities.    (See  page  87.) 

Physical  poise  is  a  habit  that  can  not  be  better 
acquired  than  through  dancing,  and  this,  as 
naturally  as  water  flows  down  hill,  reacts  on  the 
mind,  generating  habits  of  mental  poise.  Self- 
confidence  is  another  result;  and  conservation  of 
energy  through  precision  of  movement.  The  ad- 
vantage of  physical  freedom  which  dancing  gives 
can  hardly  be  overestimated,  for  an  awkward, 
constrained  body  is  hampered  at  every  turn,  in 
every  phase  of  living.  The  nervousness  of  many 
musicians  might  be  accounted  for  by  their  habits 
of  concentrating  on  only  one  form  of  musical 
activity,  and  much  of  their  tension  and  lack  of 
poise  could  no  doubt  be  counteracted  by  dances 
which  would  involve  the  entire  body  in  muscular 
coordination.  Habits  of  dancing,  too,  formed  in 
early  childhood  and  continued  through  youth  and 
maturity,  keep  one  young  in  mind  and  body  and 
spirit. 

For  the  discussion  of  the  educational  values  of  a 
few  especially  mentioned  exercises  in  the  phase  of 
"Creative  Music,"  related  to  bodily  training,  see 
pages  93  and  94. 


Place  of  Creative  Music  in  Education  173 


V. — Singing, 

That  singing  is  a  wholesome  activity  for  people 
of  all  ages,  no  one  will  deny,  and  that  it  is  a  neces- 
sary phase  of  the  child's  musical  training,  most 
educators  believe.  In  Chapter  V  I  have  tried  to 
show  that  the  child's  singing  should  begin  as  early 
as  possible,  progressing  hand  in  hand  with  his 
other  musical  experiences  and  directly  correlated 
with  them. 

In  the  earliest  stages  of  music's  development, 
singing  was  closely  associated  with  dancing,  and 
later,  when  instruments  came  into  being,  singing 
was  king  and  the  instrument  only  a  subordinate. 
Song  was  also  the  medium  for  the  expression  of 
rhythmic  language. 

There  are  many  experiences  which  come  to  us 
that  can  not  serve  us  constructively  except  through 
singing,  and  many  emotions  which  the  child  can 
not  wholesomely  express  except  through  singing. 
No  one  can  measure  the  amount  of  inspiration  and 
stimulation  toward  endeavor  that  the  child's  own 
singing  gives  him.  It  also  gives  him  intimate 
experiences  in  beauty,  and  a  consciousness  of  his 
power  to  create  beauty.  An  example  of  the  early 
enjoyment  of  song  expression  in  the  child's  own 


174  Place  of  Creative  Music  in  Education 


voice  came  to  my  notice  recently  when  a  baby  of 
fourteen  months  sang  the  first  hne  of  Three  Blind 
Mice  over  and  over,  her  facial  expression  showing 
that  she  loved  the  sounds  of  her  voice,  even  though 
she  could  come  no  nearer  the  words  than  to  suggest 
them  by  the  vowel  sounds  of  e  and  i.  Singing 
gives  the  child  an  appreciation  and  enjoyment  of 
beauty  that  involves  his  mind,  body,  and  feeling, 
and  nourishes  the  power  to  create  beauty,  not  only 
in  reproducing  songs  of  others,  but  in  making  songs 
of  his  own. 

If  his  singing  begins  early  enough,  he  establishes 
a  freedom  of  the  voice  which  gives  him  much 
pleasure  in  after  years,  and  leads  to  a  wider  free- 
dom of  mind  and  body.  The  healthful  aspect  of 
singing  is  too  well  known  to  require  discussion 
here. 

The  correlation  of  singing  with  his  other  musi- 
cal work  from  the  ground  up,  in  connection  with  his 
use  of  instruments,  makes  the  child's  musical  de- 
velopment consecutive,  easy,  and  logical.  It  is  an 
aid  to  voice  control  in  those  children  who  have  dif- 
ficulty in  singing,  and  supplies  a  natural  means  of 
teaching  children  to  play  by  ear.  It  cultivates 
accuracy  of  voice,  acuteness  of  ear,  and  habits  of 
listening;  it  calls  into  use  the  full  power  of  one'3 


Place  of  Creative  Music  in  Education  17 5 


sense  of  pitch,  and  helps  the  child  to  an  intellectual 
appreciation  of  what  he  hears. 

The  use  of  the  simplest  song  forms  makes  it 
possible  for  every  child  to  sing  songs  of  his  own 
world,  and  also  gives  every  child  melodies  which 
he  can  play,  no  matter  how  low  he  stands  in  the 
scale  of  musicianship.  Following  these  with  the 
recorded  folk-songs  of  childish  peoples,  and  gradu- 
ally taking  up  those  of  peoples  whose  musical 
feeling  sought  a  wider  range  and  more  complicated 
expression,  the  child  naturally  becomes  saturated 
with  folk-song  literature,  than  which  no  better 
preparation  can  be  given  him  for  an  appreciation  of 
the  world's  greatest  music. 

VI. — Original  Composition. 

One  of  the  most  characteristic  results  of  this  plan 
of  musical  training  is  an  impetus  toward  original 
work.  Since  the  creative  power  is  exercised  from 
the  beginning,  and  in  every  phase  of  the  work — in 
dancing,  singing,  language,  in  the  construction  of 
instruments,  and  in  playing  them — the  child  forms 
very  early  the  habit  of  improvising,  and  is  not 
daunted  by  a  suggestion  to  improvise  upon  any 
instrument  that  he  knows  how  to  use.  For  it  is  my 
belief  that  improvisation,  like  singing  and  other 


176  Place  of  Creative  Music  in  Education 


powers  which  many  people  consider  as  special  gifts, 
is  the  outcome  of  early  habits;  and  the  child  who 
begins  in  the  earliest  stages  of  his  musical  develop- 
ment to  improvise  songs  and  dances  and  instru- 
mental melodies,  will  grow  as  naturally  into  it  as 
flowers  turn  to  the  sun,  for  the  joy  he  takes  in 
original  work  is  all  the  stimulation  he  needs.  And 
it  is  not  difficult  when  one  begins  at  the  natural 
beginning. 

It  is  much  easier  for  a  very  young  child  to 
improvise  than  to  learn  a  set  melody.  All  children 
love  to  do  it,  and  it  is  a  very  simple  matter  to  guide 
their  haphazard  experiments  into  tuneful  form. 
Like  all  their  other  powers,  this  power  to  create 
also  grows  and  becomes  more  refined,  and  their 
compositions  gradually  take  on  more  pleasing 
forms  and  greater  variety.  Dances,  rhythmic 
words,  melodies  alone,  and  songs  combining  words 
and  melodies,  give  them  a  wide  field  for  original 
work,  and  children  love  each  phase  of  it.  It  gives 
them  a  sense  of  power  which  they  love  to  exercise, 
and  not  only  do  they  enjoy  their  work,  but  these 
experiences  make  them  feel  a  keener  appreciation 
for  other  and  higher  forms  of  music. 

Quite  consistent  with  our  unnatural  ways  of 
teaching  music,  many  still  think  of  composition  as 


Place  of  Creative  Music  in  Education  177 


a  very  advanced  stage  of  musical  work,  and  to 
them,  the  study  of  Harmony  and  Composition 
means  that  the  student  has  gone  into  one  of  those 
far  away,  abstract  fields  into  which  the  average 
music  pupil  may  never  hope  even  to  glance.  But 
this  is  only  another  case  of  our  inversion  of 
the  natural  procedure  in  music.  When  the  entire 
growth  of  music  is  examined,  we  see  that  composi- 
tion comes  before  anything  else  in  the  line  of  play- 
ing. Primitive  man  improvised  from  the  begin- 
ning— he  had  no  music  except  what  he  created 
spontaneously — and  but  for  this  habit  among  later 
peoples  we  would  never  have  had  our  beautiful 
folk-songs.  Improvising  in  song  and  with  his 
instrument  came  naturally  and  easily  to  primitive 
man  and  this  is  still  the  case  with  savages  of  to-day. 
Children,  too,  have  this  power  in  their  early  years, 
but  it  often  becomes  atrophied  from  disuse,  or 
blocked  by  too  much  formality  in  their  training.  I 
know  a  professional  musician  who,  as  a  child, 
improvised  and  composed  lovely  things,  but  who 
lost  that  power  after  years  of  advanced  study,  and 
she  confessed  to  me  that  she  felt  that  so  much 
study  of  the  compositions  of  others,  to  the  exclusion 
of  original  work,  had  really  destroyed  her  natural 

gift  for  composition. 
12 


178  Place  of  Creative  Music  in  Education 


Even  while  writing  on  this  book,  a  case  has  come 
to  my  knowledge  which  is  so  pertinent  that  I 
venture  to  give  a  few  of  the  facts  relating  to  this 
young  woman  who  is  now  a  brilliant  pianist  of  New 
York.  At  four  years  of  age  she  played  freely  at 
the  piano  without  any  training  whatever,  and  was 
considered  a  phenomenon.  At  five  she  improvised 
constantly,  and  composed  a  sonata  and  other 
things  that  were  published.  She  was  examined 
by  several  of  the  foremost  musicians  of  the  day, 
who  pronounced  her  a  second  Mozart.  She  played 
throughout  her  native  state  (still  at  the  age  of  five) 
programs  of  her  own  compositions.  Through  the 
force  of  circumstances  she  was  without  training, 
except  for  a  few  scattered  months,  up  to  the  age 
of  thirteen,  and  during  this  time  she  continued  to 
improvise,  and  to  compose  consciously,  her  com- 
positions showing  a  natural  and  healthy  develop- 
ment of  idea. 

From  her  thirteenth  to  her  eighteenth  year  she 
was  with  two  teachers  of  international  reputation 
and  was  given  the  best  possible  pianistic  training 
according  to  the  highest  ideals  of  musical  culture. 
She  was  grounded  in  German  text-books  of  musical 
theory,  and  was  saturated  with  musical  classics 
and  with  all  phases  of  the  world's  best  musical 


37.    A  Cello  and  Two  Mouochords  Serve  This  Trio  in  Tiieir  Cliamber  Music 

Combinations 


Place  of  Creative  Music  in  Education  179 


literature.  For  the  first  two  or  three  years  of  this 
study  her  creative  impulse  persisted,  but  gradually 
faded  and  died  out.  Although  her  pianistic  and 
interpretative  powers  have  grown  to  a  marvelous 
degree,  her  great  creative  impulse  was  entirely 
crowded  out  by  her  study,  and  has  never  returned. 

Can  it  be  that  the  strength  of  the  creative  im- 
pulse in  the  old  masters  was  due  to  the  fact  that 
there  was  not  so  much  musical  literature  for  them 
to  feed  on?  Shall  we  not  think  twice  before  we 
allow  the  child  to  consume  all  his  mental  power  in 
studying  the  works  of  others,  and  leave  no  strength 
or  time  for  his  own  creative  work?  Will  it  not 
mean  more  in  his  development  to  be  able  to  create 
one  lovely  composition  than  to  know  accurately 
the  details  of  all  that  Chopin  ever  wrote? 

VII. — Ensemble  Playing. 

I  know  of  no  activity  which  can  be  more  potent 
in  the  development  of  citizenship  or  has  more  to 
contribute  to  the  real  aims  of  education,  than 
children's  ensemble  playing.  This  form  of  musi- 
cal expression  requires  a  fine  adjustment  to  others, 
and  at  the  same  time,  the  most  careful  individual 
effort.  It  makes  the  child  stand  on  his  own  feet 
and  preserves  his  independence,  while  it  fosters 


i8o  Place  of  Creative  Music  in  Education 


the  idea  of  unity  in  common  achievement.  His 
independence  can  not  be  bought  at  a  sacrifice  of 
the  total  harmony,  but  at  the  same  time,  the  total 
harmony  depends  upon  the  preservation  of  the 
individual.  He  must  achieve  by  concentrated 
individual  effort,  and  contribute  the  product  of 
that  achievement  in  the  way  that  will  best  serve 
the  common  weal.  He  realizes,  in  a  poignant  way, 
his  obligation  to  society  when  he  hears  the  dis- 
cordant effect  which  results  from  playing  carelessly 
or  inaccurately;  when  he  plays  correctly,  he  feels 
the  joyous  and  wholesome  thrill  of  taking  part 
in  the  making  of  something  beautiful.  He  obeys 
laws,  but  his  individuality  is  expressed  and  his 
egotism  is  not  fostered. 

In  ensemble  work  the  child's  mental  concentration 
must  be  great,  so  that  he  will  not  be  disturbed  by 
what  others  are  playing.  Only  one  who  has  played 
or  sung  with  others  and  sustained  a  part  different 
from  theirs,  can  realize  how  much  concentration 
this  calls  for.  Even  when  all  are  playing  in  unison, 
every  mind  must  be  concentrated  on  the  work.  If 
one  child  lags  behind,  nobody  will  wait  for  him,  and 
unless  he  has  the  ability  to  "catch  in"  at  the  right 
place,  he  is  lost,  and  must  drop  out.  It  has  been 
most  interesting  to  observe  children,  even  little  tots 


Place  of  Creative  Music  in  Education  i8i 


of  five  and  six  years,  go  through  the  early  stages  of 
ensemble  playing,  and  see  their  mental  concen- 
tration develop  under  one's  very  eyes.  At  first 
they  are  often  so  disturbed  by  the  playing  of  others 
that  they  stop  after  the  first  few  notes  and  feel 
that  "it's  no  use  to  try."  Another  effort  per- 
haps brings  them  a  little  further,  and  they  are 
encouraged.  Soon  they  see  a  little  fun  in  the 
combined  sounds,  and  are  interested  to  make 
greater  efforts,  and  finally,  when  the  melody  is 
finished,  and  they  have  been  able  to  keep  abreast  to 
the  end,  the  exhilaration  of  successful  accomplish- 
ment more  than  pays  for  all  the  work.  Often  I 
have  seen  a  little  child  lose  his  place  because  his 
attention  had  been  distracted  for  a  moment,  then 
by  a  conscious  effort,  bring  his  mind  back,  "catch 
in"  at  the  right  place,  and  finish  with  the  others. 
(Of  course  only  very  short  melodies  can  be  used 
for  ensemble  work  with  very  small  children.) 

When  a  child  can  play  even  a  simple  melody  with 
a  group  of  other  children,  without  a  single  note  out 
of  tune  or  out  of  time,  using  his  eye,  ear,  muscles, 
and  brain  in  perfect  coordination  in  contributing 
his  part  toward  the  creation  of  something  beautiful, 
who  can  estimate  the  mental,  ethical,  and  social 
value  of  it? 


1 82  Place  of  Creative  Music  in  Education 


Confidence  in  one's  power  to  work  with  others 
is  an  inevitable  result  of  ensemble  playing,  and  the 
joy  one  takes  in  it,  broadens  one's  attitude  towards 
group  work  of  all  kinds.  For  in  ensemble  playing 
the  satisfaction  is  simultaneous  with  the  effort,  and 
naturally  stimulates  the  love  for  group  activities. 

The  selfishness  of  many  children  (especially 
that  of  the  only  child  in  a  family)  offers  a  great 
problem,  and  everyone  knows  how  valuable  is  the 
companionship  of  other  children  in  these  cases. 
In  ensemble  playing,  the  selfish  child  finds  the 
very  best  of  what  association  with  others  will 
contribute  to  him,  for  it  trains  him  subconsciously 
and  without  moralizing  to  experience  the  necessity 
and  the  joy  of  sharing  with  others. 

The  value  of  ensemble  music  in  family  groups — 
the  ideal  grouping — is  discussed  on  page  206. 

Ensemble  playing  seems  to  me  to  reduce  to  a 
minimum  self -consciousness  in  playing.  If  a  child 
plays  a  part  that  can  not  be  singled  out  (except  by 
his  mistakes)  he  will  forget  himself  in  order  to  hear 
and  to  enjoy  the  harmonized  unit  to  which  he  is 
contributing.  Here,  conspicuousness  brings  dis- 
aster rather  than  reward,  and  here  might  well  be- 
gin the  attitude  of  the  philosopher  who,  though 
contributing  much,  will  lose  himself  in  the  Big  Unit. 


Place  of  Creative  Music  in  Education  183 


To  the  average  American,  the  only  perfected 
form  of  ensemble  playing  is  that  of  the  Symphony 
Orchestra,  and  he  has  little  appreciation  for  the 
very  rich  field  of  Chamber  Music.  The  natural 
means  to  an  appreciation  of  that  intimate  phase  of 
art  is  the  group  playing  of  children,  families,  friends, 
or  students.  In  some  European  countries  where 
families  are  more  given  to  playing  together,  this 
interest  in  small  group  playing  has  resulted  in  the 
creation  of  much  chamber  music  literature,  and  a 
demand  for  its  presentation.  It  is  to  be  regretted 
that,  as  a  rule,  the  musical  audience  in  America 
demands  either  a  soloist  who  is  a  star  of  the  first 
magnitude,  or  else  a  complete  orchestra,  leaving 
out  of  account  the  small  group  of  musicians  whose 
ensemble  may  express  even  more  of  perfect  art, 
and  whose  opportunity  to  educate  the  masses  is 
even  greater,  because  of  the  greater  adaptability  of 
a  small  organization  and  their  concentrated  power. 
The  most  thorough  appreciation  of  chamber  music 
and  of  orchestral  music,  and  all  other  ensemble 
forms  of  the  Art,  is  founded  on  an  early  partici- 
pation in  these  forms  by  groups  of  children  playing 
together — the  younger  the  better — even  though 
the  instruments  may  be  crude  and  the  art  may  be 
primitive. 


1 84  Place  of  Creative  Music  in  Education 


In  summing  up  the  ways  in  which  Creative 
Music  may  contribute  to  the  child's  education 
and  development,  we  find  that  it  ofTers  distinct 
contribution : 

To  his  creative  power, 
To  his  power  to  think  for  himself, 
To  his  general  knowledge, 
To  his  power  to  act  for  himself. 
To  his  skill  in  controlling  action, 
To  his  wholesome  employment  of  emotional 
force. 

To  his  appreciation  of  beauty,  and 
To  his  adjustment  to  society; 

and  thus  may  it  directly  serve  the  true  purposes 
of  Education. 


CHAPTER  XI 


THE  BEGINNINGS  OF  CREATIVE  MUSIC  IN  THE  HOME 

The  greatest  opportunity  in  fashioning  the  child's 
musical  life  belongs  to  the  mother  and  father.  As 
a  rule  the  music  teacher  does  not  come  in  touch 
with  the  child  during  the  period  of  his  life  when 
she  could  make  her  work  take  deepest  root,  for  by 
the  time  a  child  starts  to  school,  his  brain  and 
nervous  system  have  already  received  the  impres- 
sions that  will  largely  determine  what  his  reaction 
to  the  outside  world  will  be.  Psychologists  agree 
that  most  of  our  tendencies  and  emotional  reactions 
are  established  before  the  sixth  or  seventh  year. 
Those  early  years  with  all  their  vivid  impressions 
belong  to  the  father  and  the  mother  or  to  those 
who  have  the  daily  care  of  the  child. 

Any  parent  who  has  been  interested  enough  to 
read  the  foregoing  chapters  will  have  thought 
already,  probably,  of  many  ways  in  which  he  or  she 
could  apply  the  principles  of  Creative  Music  to  the 

185 


1 86     Creative  Music  in  the  Home 


home  life  of  the  httle  ones.  But  I  should  like  to 
add  an  extra  word  of  practical  suggestion. 

In  the  first  place,  I  think  we  should  sing  to 
children  from  their  earliest  infancy.  More  musi- 
cal capacity  comes  through  imitation  (if  the 
opportunity  is  given  when  the  child  is  in  the 
imitative  stage)  than  many  of  us  realize.  I  regret 
the  passing  of  the  old  custom  of  singing  babies  to 
sleep,  for  I  think  there  is  something  very  vitally 
helpful  to  the  musical  sense  in  having  simple  and 
quiet  vocal  sounds  of  sweet  quality  penetrate  into 
the  child's  subconscious  mind  in  the  state  of  sleep. 
His  subconscious  mind  is  already  and  constantly 
receiving  various  kinds  of  impressions  that  will 
play  an  important  part  in  shaping  his  after  life. 
Why  not  take  advantage  of  the  opportunity  to  give 
it  impressions  of  beauty  that  can  have  none  other 
\  than  a  beneficent  effect?  Observations  of  the 
reactions  of  little  children  to  different  stimuli 
have  convinced  me  that  a  child  reacts  to  beauty  of 
sound  earlier  in  his  life  than  to  impressions  of 
beauty  received  through  the  other  senses.  Since 
the  appreciation  of  sound  is  so  elemental,  education 
through  his  ear  cannot  begin  too  early.  In  a  sense, 
his  musical  education  does  begin  the  day  he  is  born 
(unless  he  is  deaf) ,  whether  one  wishes  it  or  not,  and 


Creative  Music  in  the  Home  187 


the  most  a  parent  can  do  is  to  see  that  the  daily 
impressions  made  on  the  child's  ear  shall  tend  to- 
ward appreciation  and  creation  of  beauty. 

I  truly  believe  that  it  is  possible  for  a  child  to 
receive  from  his  mother  and  father  in  the  home,  in 
the  first  seven  years  of  his  life,  musical  training — 
without  set  lessons  or  practice  hours — that  will  be 
of  greater  value  to  him  than  twice  seven  years' 
study  in  any  conservatory  after  he  is  grown.  If 
one  or  both  of  the  parents  are  musical,  so  much  the 
better;  but  even  unmusical  parents  can  do  much  if 
-  they  are  intelligently  interested  and  patiently 
persevering.  A  deliberate  formation  of  certain 
family  habits,  a  watchfulness  for  opportunity  and 
a  readiness  to  convert  things  at  hand  into  musical 
material,  are  all  that  are  needed.  But  the  cooper- 
ation of  both  parents  is  necessary. 

It  does  not  seem  unfair,  I  hope,  to  place  upon  the 
shoulders  of  the  busy  man  of  aflFairs  a  share  of 
responsibility  in  the  personal  musical  training  of 
his  child.  Too  many  fathers  feel  that  their  respon- 
sibility ends  in  earning  the  money  to  pay  the  bills 
for  the  musical  education  of  their  children.  The 
father's  personal  cooperation,  however,  is  worth 
much  more  than  the  money  he  plans  to  spend. 
Even  if  he  can  give  little  technical  help,  he  can  at 


i88     Creative  Music  in  the  Home 


least  let  all  who  are  concerned  feel  his  sympathetic 
interest.  To  some  prosaic  men  (and  women  too) 
who  have  forgotten  all  about  the  feelings  and 
mental  attitudes  of  their  childhood,  the  natural 
musical  development  of  a  child  would  seem  sheer 
nonsense  and  useless  noise.  Such  an  attitude  on 
the  part  of  either  parent,  by  his  or  her  mere  pres- 
ence in  the  house,  casts  a  "damper"  over  the 
efforts  of  the  other.  All  musical  activity  must  be 
free  and  spontaneous,  without  any  fear  of  dis- 
pleasing anyone.  The  true  spirit  of  the  effort  is 
killed  by  the  presence  of  even  one  unsympathetic 
person,  and  if  that  person  is  the  child's  father  or 
mother,  or  anyone  whom  he  loves  very  much,  it  is 
quite  fatal  to  the  undertaking.  Any  musician 
knows  how  quickly  his  musical  feeling  and  power  of 
expression  are  affected  by  the  presence  of  one  who 
is  intolerant  or  unsympathetic;  and  I  have  known 
many  fathers  who,  from  lack  of  sympathy  with 
their  children's  efforts,  have  blighted,  quite  uncon- 
sciously, the  musical  powers  of  their  children  to  a 
serious  extent. 

On  the  other  hand,  many  fathers  who  are  really 
sympathetic  with  their  children's  training  feel  that 
"rough-housing"  is  the  only  way  they  can  play 
with  them.    This  also  is  unfortunate.    Such  play 


Creative  Music  in  the  Home  189 


often  ends  in  a  tearful  reaction  from  an  excitement 
that  is  nervous  and  uncontrolled.  No  real  develop- 
ment in  song  or  dance  can  come  through  rowdy  or 
riotous  singing  and  dancing.  Rhythmic  play  can 
be  free  and  spontaneous,  and  yet  sane  and  whole- 
some for  everyone  concerned.  Baby  games,  such 
as  "Patacake,"  "This  is  the  Way  the  Baby  Rides," 
and  "This  Little  Pig  went  to  Market"  have  real 
value  in  the  development  of  the  sense  of  rhythm, 
and  have  stood  the  test  of  time. 

As  soon  as  the  child  can  stand  well  enough,  he  is 
ready  for  a  fine  ride  standing  on  father's  swinging 
foot.  This  gives  the  child  experience  of  bodily 
freedom  in  rhythmic  motion  through  the  air,  and 
training  in  muscular  coordination  as  well.  The 
strong-armed  father  who  swings  his  baby  rhythmi- 
cally to  and  fro,  is  giving  the  child  wholesome  experi- 
ences in  rhythmic  feeling  that  will  enable  him  to 
dance  morefreely  if  this  early  sense  of  bodily  freedom 
is  not  counterbalanced  by  some  experience  that 
results  in  fear  or  constraint.  In  his  outings  with 
the  child,  the  father  has  valuable  opportunities 
to  quicken  the  small  ears  to  sounds  of  Nature, 
to  keen  perception  and  imitation  of  them ;  together 
they  may  learn  bird  songs — to  know  them  and 
to  whistle  them;  and  so  in  numberless  ways 


I90     Creative  Music  in  the  Home 


the  father  may  contribute  to  the  musical  education 
of  his  child,  even  without  having  had  musical 
training  himself. 

Many  mothers,  as  well  as  fathers,  have  felt  a 
righteous  comfort  in  making  sacrifices  to  save 
money  for  their  children's  musical  training  "when 
they  are  old  enough,"  and  many  have  also  been  dis- 
appointed in  the  results.  Perhaps  the  results  would 
have  been  more  satisfactory  had  a  better  foun- 
dation been  laid  before  they  were  "old  enough." 
Even  the  busiest  mother  has  many  opportunities 
to  serve  her  child's  musical  education,  not  only 
while  he  is  an  infant  in  arms,  but  all  through  his 
childhood.  She  may  sing  to  him  and  with  him  at 
all  times,  even  while  she  kneads  the  bread  and 
peels  the  potatoes.  She  has  many  opportunities 
to  improvise  duets  with  him  or  to  let  him  beat  a 
pie-pan  drum  while  they  sing  or  march  from  room 
to  room  on  necessary  errands.  She  can  encourage 
him  to  dance  daily,  either  with  or  without  music. 
With  his  little  broom  he  may  help  her  sweep,  and 
while  actually  removing  the  fallen  leaves  from  the 
wide  porch  floor,  keeping  time  with  mother's  broom, 
he  may  have  a  lesson  in  rhythm,  muscular  co- 
ordination, and  adjustment.  They  can  make  beds 
together,  and  improvise  songs  of  the  "fluttering 


Creative  Music  in  the  Home  191 


sheet  that  must  be  tucked  in."  While  mother 
mends,  he  can  sit  on  the  floor  and  tap  rhythms 
with  his  blocks,  to  see  which  one  she  likes  best,  and 
sing  a  dramatic  song  of  the  tower  that  has  to  fall. 

It  is  within  the  mother's  power,  even  without 
musical  training  herself,  to  teach  her  children  to 
play  musical  melodies  as  early  as  four  or  five  years 
of  age.  With  a  little  patience  and  experimenting, 
she  may  find  several  drinking  glasses  that  have 
musical  sounds  when  struck,  and  tune  them  to  the 
notes  of  the  major  scale.  Five  or  six  glasses  will 
prove  enough  in  the  beginning, — or  even  three, — 
and  if  she  has  previously  taught  the  child  to  sing 
simple  songs  that  lie  within  the  range  of  these 
glasses,  he  will  be  delighted  to  find  the  melodies 
by  ear  and  play  them.  The  glasses  should  rest  on  a 
thick  cloth,  and  should  be  struck  with  a  cloth- 
covered,  wooden  hammer.  I  consider  tuned 
glasses  the  simplest  and  most  attractive  instru- 
ment for  a  child's  first  playing,  and  surely  every 
family  in  America  can  afford  to  give  its  children 
musical  experiences  in  this. 

As  soon  as  the  child  is  old  enough  to  handle  tools, 
the  father  or  mother  may  guide  him  in  the  making 
of  many  instruments.  I  add  below  a  few  directions 
for  simple  home-made  instruments  for  the  benefit  of 


192     Creative  Music  in  the  Home 


those  who  wish  more  detailed  suggestions  than  is 
given  in  the  story  of  my  experiment. 

With  only  a  few  suggestions  from  a  parent  many 
children  will  be  able  to  make  a  variety  of  drums 
of  things  already  at  hand.  Anything  that  is 
cylindrical  and  hollow  can  be  made  into  a  barrel 
drum  if  the  edges  are  smooth  enough  to  be  covered 
by  a  skin  or  cloth  or  stiff  paper,  for  instance  a  hat 
box,  a  round  oatmeal  box,  a  coffee  can,  a  pail  with 
the  bottom  removed,  a  section  of  gourd,  section  of 
hollow  log,  butter  tub,  mailing  tube,  all  kinds  of 
kegs,  etc.  The  two  ends  are  covered  at  the  same 
time.  A  long,  strong  cord  is  drawn  first  through 
one  skin  and  then  through  the  other,  thus  produc- 
ing the  zigzag  effect  around  the  body  of  the  drum. 
The  cord  should  be  drawn  as  tightly  as  possible 
before  it  is  tied.  If  cloth  is  used,  have  it  stretched 
very  tightly  over  the  ends  before  the  shellac  is 
applied  (see  page  42).  If  skin  is  used,  it  must  be 
wet  until  it  is  quite  soft  before  it  is  put  on  the  drum. 
After  the  skin  has  been  fastened  by  the  cord  lacings 
all  around  the  drum,  it  should  be  drawn  only 
moderately  tight,  and  if  the  skin  is  then  dried 
rapidly  before  a  fire  or  other  heat,  it  will  become 
taut  and  resonant. 

A  kettle  drum  may  be  made  from  any  concave 


Creative  Music  in  the  Home  i93 


body  which  has  a  smooth  edge  and  which  is  soKd 
enough  to  reflect  sound  vibrations:  a  chopping 
bowl,  the  half  of  a  cocoanut  shell  that  has  been 
sawed  in  two,  a  china  or  earthenware  bowl,  a  flower- 
pot, bucket,  etc.  Since  the  cord  that  holds  the 
skin  in  place  cannot  pass  alternately  from  one  end 
to  the  other,  some  other  w  ay  of  holding  it  on 
tightly  must  be  devised.  If  thumb  tacks  cannot 
be  used,  as  in  the  case  of  crockery  and  cocoanut 
shells,  a  net  work  of  cord  may  be  made  and  drawn 
tightly  around  the  smaller  part  of  the  concave  body 
(see  Figure  1). 

The  decoration  of  the  drum  is  not  to  be  over- 
looked, for  it  gives  the  child  an  opportunity  to 
express  his  artistic  feeling  in  design  and  color  upon 
something  he  will  use,  and  to  experience  a  real 
correlation  of  two  great  arts.  His  feeling  for 
rhythm  may  be  cultivated  in  beautifying  his  drum 
as  well  as  in  using  it. 

The  marimba  is  such  an  interesting  and  easy 

instrument  to  make  that  any  child  who  has  access 

to  some  smooth  strips  of  wood,  a  saw  and  a  plane,  a 

gimlet,  a  few  small  nails  and  a  strip  of  thick  cloth 

can  make  one  at  home.    WTiite  wood  or  poplar 

is  best,  though  pine  will  do.    A  bar  of  wood  about 

twelve  or  fourteen  inches  long,  one  and  a  half 
13 


194     Creative  Music  in  the  Home 


inches  wide,  and  three  fourths  of  an  inch  thick  is  a 
good  size  to  start  with.  Lift  it  with  two  fingers 
about  one  fourth  of  its  length  from  one  end,  and 
strike  it  in  the  middle  with  a  wooden  stick  or 
mallet.  It  will  give  a  musical  sound  which  one 
may  easily  match  with  the  voice.  This  may  be 
used  as  the  keynote  of  the  instrument,  or  its  pitch 
may  be  changed  and  brought  into  unison  with 
another  note,  if  some  other  instrument  is  to  be 
played  with  it.  If  its  tone  is  too  low,  it  may  be 
raised  by  sawing  off  one  end  and  making  the  stick 
shorter.  If  it  is  too  high,  plane  one  of  the  flat  sides 
until  the  tone  is  sufficiently  lowered.  Let  the  child 
find  out  by  experiment  just  how  much  must  be 
sawed  off  or  planed.  Another  bar  a  little  shorter 
(but  of  the  same  width  and  thickness)  may  be 
tuned  in  the  same  way  for  the  second  note  of  the 
scale,  and  so  on  for  as  many  notes  as  the  child 
wishes  for  his  instrument.  The  less  he  is  told  and 
the  more  he  finds  out  by  experiment,  the  better  for 
him  and  the  more  he  will  enjoy  the  process. 

When  the  notes  are  all  tuned,  he  must  find  a 
board  long  enough  and  wide  enough  to  use  as  a 
base  to  rest  all  of  the  notes  on,  leaving  about  a 
half -inch  space  between  every  two  adjacent  ones. 
If  he  places  these  wooden  bars  flat  upon  the  board, 


Creative  Music  in  the  Home  195 


he  will  find  that  their  tones  are  dead  and  unmusical, 
not  at  all  like  their  sounds  when  he  held  them 
lightly  in  two  fingers  and  struck  them.  Some- 
thing must  be  stopping  the  vibrations.  Now  it 
happens  that  when  a  bar  of  wood  is  struck 
it  vibrates  in  segments,  and  there  are  points  in  it 
where  it  may  rest  or  be  touched  without  interfering 
with  those  vibrations.  These  points  are  about  one 
fourth  of  its  length  from  each  end,  and  are  called 
nodal  points.  (The  child  may  locate  them  by 
tapping  the  bar  when  it  is  covered  with  fine  saw- 
dust, and  watching  to  see  where  the  sawdust 
collects  as  the  quietest  place  to  rest.)  If  some 
way  can  be  devised  to  support  the  bar  at  those 
points  only,  it  will  be  free  to  vibrate  and  produce 
a  clearer  tone.  Two  very  narrow  strips  nailed  or 
glued  to  the  big  board  will  serve  this  purpose,  but 
they  must  be  placed  at  the  proper  angle  to  support 
all  the  bars  at  their  nodal  points.  Since  the  bars 
are  of  graduated  lengths,  the  bar  with  the  lowest 
note  being  much  longer  than  the  bar  producing 
the  highest  note,  the  two  supporting  strips  will  of 
course  have  to  be  placed  further  apart  at  one  end 
than  at  the  other.  If  these  supporting  strips  are 
covered  with  felt  or  other  thick  cloth,  the  sound  will 
be  better.    Can  the  child  see  the  reason  for  this? 


196      Creative  Music  in  the  Home 


After  the  nodal  points  are  located  and  the 
covered  strips  in  place,  the  wooden  bars  must  now 
be  fixed  in  position  so  they  will  not  bounce  out  of 
place  when  they  are  struck.  The  simplest  method 
I  have  found  is  to  bore  gimlet  holes  through  the 
wooden  bars  at  their  nodal  points  (at  one  end  is  all 
that  is  necessary)  and  drive  tiny  nails  into  the 
supporting  strip,  so  that  when  the  bars  are  in  place 
the  nails  stand  in  the  gimlet  holes  and  keep  the 
bars  from  falling  off.  The  nails  must  not  fit 
tightly  in  the  gimlet  holes.  Can  the  child  tell  why? 
If  desired,  the  wooden  bars  may  be  stained  (paint 
or  varnish  would  affect  the  tone  of  the  wood)  and 
the  base  board  may  be  decorated  in  any  way  the 
child  wishes. 

A  block  of  pine  or  other  wood  about  an  inch 
thick  may  be  whittled  into  a  round  ball,  a  hole 
bored  in  it,  a  stick  glued  into  the  hole  for  a  handle, 
and  a  mallet  is  ready  to  use.  The  mallet  must 
strike  the  bars  in  the  middle,  between  the  two 
supporting  strips. 

A  six-note  marimba  is  a  very  practical  size  for  a 
small  child  to  make,  and  there  are  many  six-note 
songs  he  can  easily  play;  London  Bridge,  for 
instance.  Lavender's  Blue,  and  Twinkle,  Twinkle^ 
Little  Star.    If  there  are  several  children  in  the 


Creative  Music  in  the  Home  i97 


family,  each  child  may  make  one,  and  if  these 
marimbas  are  tuned  in  unison  and  played  together, 
they  may  contribute  much  pleasure  in  the  family 
circle.  They  can  give  the  four-  and  five-year- 
olds,  as  well  as  those  in  their  teens,  valuable  experi- 
ences in  Chamber  Music  and  ensemble  playing,  all 
without  special  lessons  from  a  professional  music 
teacher,  the  director  being  some  member  of  the 
family. 

One  of  the  simplest  of  home-made  instruments 
is  a  set  of  pipes  of  Pan.  Before  making  the 
instrument,  the  child  will  be  interested  to  hear  the 
story  of  Pan,  of  his  love  for  the  beautiful  nymph, 
Syrinx;  how  she  fled  at  his  approach;  how  he 
pursued;  and  how  she  was  changed  into  a  cluster  of 
reeds  by  the  side  of  the  river  just  as  he  was  about 
to  overtake  her.  His  discovery  of  the  tone  made 
by  his  breath  passing  over  the  reeds  that  had  been 
broken  by  his  grasp,  and  his  invention  of  the  musical 
pipes  as  consolation  for  the  lost  Syrinx,  all  seem  real 
to  the  children  who  find  growing  reeds,  cut  them, 
and  make  them  into  pipes  which  they  can  play. 

Every  child  should  have  the  experience  of  mak- 
ing and  using  this  simple  little  instrument,  and  I 
believe  that  almost  any  mother  will  be  able  to  find 
something  which  may  serve  as  material  to  use  in  its 


198      Creative  Music  in  the  Home 


making.  If  the  stem  of  the  Japanese  fleece  flower 
is  not  to  be  had,  then  elder  branches,  the  bark  of 
willow  branches  (in  the  spring  only),  rushes,  or 
anything  that  grows  with  hollow  stems  will  do. 
Small  cornstalks  may  be  used  if  the  pith  is  pushed 
out  or  burned  out  with  a  hot  rod.  If  none  of  these 
are  available,  the  same  type  of  instrument  may  be 
made  of  test  tubes,  tall  slender  bottles,  or  even  rolls 
of  stiff  paper. 

Most  children  know  how  to  make  a  sound  by 
blowing  across  a  hollow  tube  that  is  closed  at  one 
end.  Those  who  do  not  may  find  out  by  experi- 
ment. The  tube  or  reed  must  be  held  straight  up, 
pressed  lightly  against  the  chin  with  the  open  end 
of  the  reed  touching  the  lower  lip.  Then  make  a 
small  opening  in  the  lips  just  over  the  pipe,  and 
while  blowing  directly  across  this  open  end,  whis- 
per distinctly  the  word  "  two."  If  a  musical  sound 
does  not  result,  shift  the  pipe  a  little  lower  or  higher 
and  try  it  again.  The  proper  position  of  the  pipe 
will  be  found  without  much  difficulty,  but  a  little 
practice  is  usually  needed  to  produce  a  full,  clear 
tone  and  it  is  well  to  acquire  this  before  attempting 
to  tune  a  series  of  pipes.  If  one  blows  too  hard 
the  tone  will  be  shrill. 

In  making  this  instrument,  two  things  are  to  be 


Creative  Music  in  the  Home  199 


remembered:  the  pipes  must  be  closed  at  the 
bottom,  and  the  pitch  of  each  pipe  must  be  regu- 
lated by  the  length  of  the  hollow  part.  The 
longest  reed  will  give  the  lowest  tone  (which  the 
child  should  discover  for  himself),  and  the  maker 
must  also  find  by  experiment  how  much  to  cut  off 
in  order  to  raise  the  tone  to  any  desired  pitch. 
Most  hard  reeds  may  be  held  in  a  vise  and  cut  with 
a  saw.  When  the  pitch  is  almost  high  enough, 
the  reed  may  be  sandpapered  into  tune  and  the 
risk  of  cutting  off  too  much  is  thereby  lessened. 
In  case  glass  or  metal  tubes  are  used,  the  length  of 
the  hollow  cavity  may  be  shortened  by  putting 
water  or  sand  in  them.  If  rolls  of  paper  are  used, 
the  lower  ends  may  be  closed  with  paraflane,  but 
there  must  not  be  even  the  tiniest  leak. 

Three  pipes  will  be  enough  for  the  young  child's 
first  attempt,  and  more  may  be  added  as  soon  as 
his  proficiency  in  the  use  of  three  pipes  justifies  a 
wider  range.  Upon  these  three  pipes  he  may  play 
the  three-note  melodies  given  in  Chapter  VII. 
The  pipes  should  be  tied  together  in  two  places  to 
hold  them  straight.  (See  Figure  9.)  Do  not  be 
alarmed  if  the  blowing  causes  dizziness;  it  usually 
does  until  the  piper  learns  to  play  with  less  effort 
and  less  waste  of  breath. 


200     Creative  Music  in  the  Home 


Part-playing  with  pipes  may  begin  as  soon  as 
two  children  in  the  family  know  the  same  three- 
note  melody,  and  one  of  them  has  a  set  of  five  pipes 
tuned  accurately  to  the  first  five  notes  of  the  major 
scale,  and  another  child  has  three  pipes  exactly  in 
tune  with  the  three  lower  notes  of  the  five-note  set. 
The  owner  of  the  five-note  set  may  play  the  three- 
note  melody  on  pipes  number  three,  four  and  five, 
while  the  other  child  plays  it  on  numbers  one,  two 
and  three,  thus  producing  two-part  harmonies.  If 
the  pipes  are  tuned  to  notes  of  the  piano,  and  if 
mother  can  accompany  the  pipers,  the  effect  may 
be  very  delightful  and  tend  to  stimulate  the 
children  to  higher  musical  achievement. 

The  children  may  also  be  interested  to  know  how 
this  instrument  has  developed  from  its  simple 
beginnings;  that  through  ages  of  careful  experi- 
ment the  hollow  reed  has  been  made  to  produce 
sounds  that  are  more  and  more  beautiful;  that 
the  great  pipe  organs  that  stand  in  our  most 
magnificent  churches  to-day,  with  their  rows  of 
manuals,  stops  and  pedals,  their  hundreds  of  pipes 
producing  musical  sounds  of  every  degree  of  power 
and  of  every  imaginable  quality,  are  in  reality,  only 
highly  developed  pipes  of  Pan. 

The  mother  who  has  read  Chapter  IV  will  doubt- 


Creative  Music  in  the  Home  201 


less  be  able  to  find  trumpet  materials  for  her 
children  and  direct  their  experiments  until  they 
acquire  a  trumpet  tone.  A  little  lip  practice  may 
not  be  amiss  in  the  beginning.  Most  children 
discover  in  babyhood  how  to  make  a  noise  by  blow- 
ing through  lightly  closed,  fluttering  lips.  This 
motion  applied  to  lips  that  are  tightly  closed  except 
for  a  small  opening  in  the  center,  produces  a  louder 
sound.  When  the  breath  is  forced  through  the 
small  aperture,  it  causes  those  tiny  parts  of  the 
lips  to  flutter  after  the  manner  of  a  double  reed. 
The  child  should  first  make  this  sound  with  his  lips 
until  he  is  sure  of  it,  then  hold  the  hollow  reed  or 
other  trumpet  to  the  lips,  as  shown  in  Figure  10,  and 
repeat  the  sound  with  the  fluttering  part  of  his 
lips  inside  the  reed.  Let  him  experiment  until 
he  produces  a  full,  vibrant,  and  steady  tone  of 
definite  pitch.  The  lowest  tone  that  the  reed  will 
produce  is  its  true  or  fundamental  tone;  the  others 
are  overtones.  A  little  practice  will  enable  the  child 
to  blow  the  fundamental  tone  without  letting  it 
lapse  into  the  overtones.  One  who  plays  the  bugle 
will  probably  be  able  to  blow  bugle  tones  on  the 
trumpet  by  purposely  making  use  of  the  overtones. 

If  the  trumpet  is  a  reed  with  practically  the  same 
diameter  for  its  entire  length  (as  the  one  in  Figure 


202      Creative  Music  in  the  Home 


10),  holes  may  be  bored  or  burned  in  it  which 
enable  one  to  play  a  melody  very  easily.  A  round 
hole  as  large  as  can  be  conveniently  covered  by  the 
finger,  placed  about  one  eighth  of  the  reed's  length 
from  the  lower  end,  will  allow  the  trumpet  to  yield 
a  tone  one  step  above  the  fundamental.  A  trial 
hole  may  be  made,  and  if  the  note  it  yields  is  not 
accurate,  it  may  be  filled  with  paraffine  or  wax 
and  another  hole  may  be  made.  The  placing  of 
these  holes  is  best  learned  by  experiment,  for  the 
child  loves  to  make  his  own  discoveries.  He  will 
probably  discover  that  the  size  of  the  hole,  as  well 
as  its  position,  has  an  effect  on  the  tone.  A  second 
hole  placed  not  quite  one  eighth  of  the  reed's 
entire  length  above  the  first  hole  will  yield,  when 
both  holes  are  open,  a  note  which  is  a  major  third 
above  the  fundamental.  The  trumpet  now  has  the 
capacity  for  a  three-note  melody,  and  if  the  child  is 
familiar  with  several  such  melodies  and  will 
improvise  others,  this  simple  hollow  reed  will 
afford  him  some  variety  in  musical  expression.  If 
a  third  note  is  added  for  the  fourth  note  of  the  scale, 
the  distance  between  the  second  and  third  holes 
should  be  less  than  the  distance  between  the  first 
and  second  holes,  since  number  four  of  the  major 
scale  is  only  a  half -step  higher  than  number  three. 


Creative  Music  in  the  Home  203 


The  parent  who  is  guiding  the  constructive 
efforts  of  children  in  Creative  Music  will  be  able 
without  further  suggestions,  to  make  many,  if  not 
all  the  instruments  described  in  Chapter  IV, — for 
instance,  the  squash-leaf  oboe,  the  Chinese  tche, 
primitive  harps  and  kins  and  banjos,  and  perhaps 
others  which  I  have  not  mentioned.  A  study  of 
the  photographs  may  also  be  helpful.  However,  I 
will  describe  in  detail  the  construction  of  the  box 
lyre,  as  a  type  of  simple  stringed  instrument  which 
any  child  may  make  at  home. 

The  two  main  things  in  this  instrument  are  a 
strong  frame  supporting  a  number  of  strings,  and  a 
box  resonator  to  intensify  the  sound  of  the  strings. 
First  procure  a  cigar-box,  or  else  make  a  box  with  a 
top  of  thin  wood.  Cut  a  hole  in  this  top  (see 
Figure  44).  It  is  through  this  hole  that  the  sound 
waves  enter  the  box  and  become  intensified.  The 
top  must  then  be  put  aside  until  the  frame  is  in 
place.  A  frame  of  strong  wood  may  now  be  built 
around  the  box  to  support  the  strings.  The  side 
pieces  may  be  as  long  as  the  maker  desires  for  the 
length  of  his  strings,  and  the  cross  pieces  at  the  top 
must  extend  fully  across  both  side  pieces.  The 
joints  had  best  be  strengthened  with  long  screws 
so  that  the  pull  of  many  tight  strings  will  not 


204     Creative  Music  in  the  Home 


weaken  the  joints.  Bore  as  many  holes  in  the  top 
cross  piece  as  you  will  need  for  strings.  Make 
pegs  that  fit  tightly  into  these  holes  and  then  bore 
tiny  holes  through  these  pegs  near  the  top.  If 
you  have  no  gimlet  that  is  small  enough,  holes  may 
be  burned  through  the  pegs  with  the  red-hot  end  of 
a  wire  or  hairpin.  These  tiny  holes  are  for  attach- 
ing the  strings  to  the  pegs.  If  the  frame  is  made  to 
fit  the  box,  it  may  now  be  glued  into  place  as  in 
Figure  44,  and  the  top  glued  on.  It  is  best  to  set  the 
box  a  little  back  in  its  frame,  so  that  the  top  of  the 
box  lacks  about  one  fourth  of  an  inch  of  being  on 
a  level  with  the  frame.  Thus  no  bridges  will  be 
required  to  keep  the  strings  from  rattling  against 
the  box.  Now  drive  small  screws  or  nails  into  the 
bottom  cross  piece,  tie  the  strings  to  these  scre\ys, 
and  then,  drawing  the  strings  across  the  lyre, 
fasten  them  to  the  pegs  at  the  top,  and  turn  the 
pegs  to  regulate  the  tension  of  the  strings. 

Wire  strings  or  gut  strings,  or  even  silk  strings 
twisted  and  dipped  into  wax,  will  answer.  Strings 
of  graduated  sizes  should  be  used,  the  heaviest 
ones,  of  course,  being  used  for  the  lowest  notes. 
If  a  rattle  is  heard  in  the  sound  of  the  string, 
it  may  be  because  its  vibrations  are  not  cut 
off  sharply  at  the  edge  of  the  cross  piece,  and  it 


Creative  Music  in  the  Home  205 


may  be  vibrating  against  a  part  of  that  piece  of 
wood.  In  such  case,  a  piece  of  stiff  wire  may  be 
slipped  under  the  strings  to  lift  them  from  the 
wood,  or  else  the  wood  may  be  trimmed  to  a  sharp 
edge  which  leaves  no  other  contact  with  the  string. 
The  lyre  may  be  decorated  according  to  the  child's 
ideas.  It  is  held  in  the  left  arm,  as  shown  in  Figure 
26,  and  played  with  the  thumb  and  fingers  of  the 
right  hand.  In  case  wire  strings  have  been  used, 
the  quill  end  of  a  chicken  feather  or  other  plectrum 
may  be  used  for  plucking  the  strings,  if  so  desired. 

If  the  above  instruments  are  made  at  home  under 
the  parents'  guidance,  these  experiences  will 
probably  lay  the  foundation  for  further  experi- 
ments and  give  the  child  an  impetus  toward 
musical  investigation  and  growth.  If  the  use 
of  them  is  encouraged,  or  even  patiently  tolerated, 
it  will  probably  help  to  form  the  music  making 
habit. 

If  there  is  a  word  one  could  speak  that  would 
make  us  really  want  to  forget  our  cares  for  a 
time  at  the  end  of  the  day  and  bring  the  family 
together  for  a  little  home-made  music,  pray  let  us 
find  the  magic  word  and  shout  it  from  the  house- 
tops! No  matter  if  the  music  is  crude — it  is  the 
hahit  that  counts  most  of  all,  for  the  children  and 


2o6     Creative  Music  in  the  Home 


for  ourselves  as  well.  To  "put  on  a  few  records" 
does  not  suffice;  these  liave  a  valuable  service  to 
yield  in  our  family  life  and  education,  but  they  can- 
not take  the  place  of  actual  experiences  in  making 
music.  Not  only  are  the  cares  of  the  day  for- 
gotten when  we  play  and  sing  together,  but  the 
family  ties  are  strengthened  and  associations  are 
built  up  which  serve  us  well  all  through  life.  If  a 
child  has  feelings  of  anger  toward  another  it  is 
almost  impossible  for  him  to  cherish  that  anger 
through  the  hearty  singing  of  several  songs  to- 
gether, especially  if  the  songs  be  jolly  ones.  Here 
is  an  opportunity  for  parents  to  study  the  psy- 
chology of  music  in  reference  to  their  children,  and 
to  select  songs  for  special  effects  upon  them. 
Whether  in  singing  or  in  playing,  it  is  undoubtedly 
true  that  the  family  custom  of  making  harmonious 
sounds  together  has  an  enormous  value  in  regulat- 
ing family  nerves  and  harmonizing  family  relations; 
in  giving  children  musical  experiences  from  baby- 
hood that  tend  to  make  them  truly  musical;  and 
in  establishing  reactions,  attitudes,  and  tendencies 
toward  music  and  toward  other  people  that  will 
make  their  whole  lives  richer  and  more  complete. 


45.    Suggestions  for  Home-Made  Drums 


CHAPTER  XII 


SUGGESTIONS  TO  TEACHERS 

A  DETAILED  report  of  each  lesson  or  a  list  of  all  the 
steps  in  my  work  would  be  impossible  in  these 
pages;  neither  is  it  necessary.  I  have  tried  to 
make  my  beliefs  and  working  principles  clear; 
have  stated  my  aims,  suggested  the  material,  and 
have  explained  my  plan  of  using  that  material  in 
the  hope  that  teachers  and  parents  who  wished  to 
make  practical  use  of  it  would  be  able  to  do  so. 
Doubtless  many  will  be  able,  without  further  sug- 
gestion, to  incorporate  into  their  teaching  as  many 
of  the  ideas  herein  stated  as  have  appealed  to  them. 
It  is  impossible  to  tell  the  true  teacher  just  how 
she  is  to  do  anything,  for  each  teacher  must  have 
her  own  technique.  When  once  she  has  thoroughly 
acquired  her  subject  matter,  it  must  then  stand  at 
the  disposal  of  her  wisdom  and  circumstances  and 
of  the  child's  nature  and  capacity.  The  facts  are 
merely  the  storehouse  to  draw  from  as  the  child 

himself  reaches  for  knowledge;  the  teacher's  part 

207 


2o8        Suggestions  to  Teachers 

being  mainly  to  stimulate  and  guide  his  reaching. 
The  teacher  who  develops  constructive  tendencies 
in  children  is  more  useful  than  one  who  stores  his 
mind  with  facts. 

The  true  compensation  of  a  teacher  is  the  per- 
sonal joy  she  feels  in  seeing  the  child's  powers 
unfold  and  grow  under  her  guidance.  There  are 
thrilling  moments  in  her  life  when  the  child's 
reaction  to  her  efforts  has  resulted  in  the  creation 
of  something  beautiful.  The  realization  that 
through  her  stimulation  the  child  did  it  alone, 
gives  her  a  thrill  that  she  would  not  exchange  for 
any  other  satisfaction  the  world  has  to  offer. 
There  is  a  far  greater  joy  in  enabling  a  child  to 
create  something  than  in  creating  it  one's  self,  for 
then  one  has  the  gratification  of  feeling  a  construc- 
tive power  in  the  mental  development  of  human 
beings  rather  than  power  over  mere  materials. 
The  wish  for  power,  which  is  so  fundamental  a  part 
of  our  make-up,  is  thus  gratified  in  a  way  that  is 
most  helpful  to  society,  and  the  teacher  finds  a 
compensation  that  none  can  fully  understand 
except  those  who  have  experienced  it. 

Many  teachers  are  more  interested  in  the  pupils 
who  have  much  talent  than  in  those  who  have  little. 
But  there  is  a  particular  satisfaction  in  dealing 


Suggestions  to  Teachers  209 


with  difficult  situations,  in  working  out  different 
ways  of  stimulating  a  weak  power  to  stronger  reac- 
tion, and  in  exploring  to  find  out  hidden  power. 
One  of  the  greatest  rewards  in  teaching  is  in  seeing 
an  untalented  child's  face  glow  with  the  realiza- 
tion of  accomplishment,  or  in  hearing  him  say, 
perhaps,  "Oh,  how  beautiful!  I  didn't  know  I 
could  do  that!"  The  teacher's  compensation  is  in 
seeing  the  effect  on  the  child,  not  in  the  intrinsic 
beauty  of  the  thing  he  has  created. 

To  begin  with,  then,  the  teacher  must  teach,  not 
from  an  extrinsic  motive,  but  for  the  personal 
gratification  that  comes  in  the  very  process  of 
teaching.  Then  she  must  formulate  her  aims 
toward  the  child,  select  the  material  she  will  use, 
decide  on  the  method  or  plan  she  will  follow  in 
using  that  material,  and  work  out  her  own  tech- 
nique in  adapting  her  plan  to  each  child. 

Aims. — Broadly  speaking,  perhaps  the  general 

aim  of  any  musical  educator  should  be  to  lead  the 

child  really  to  experience  music.    But  as  phases  of 

her  general  aim,  the  teacher  will  also  have  definite 

aims  as  to  the  special  experiences  her  pupils  shall 

have,  the  knowledge  they  shall  gain,  the  powers 

of  thought  which  they  shall  develop,  the  skills 

they  shall  acquire,  the  habits  they  shall  cultivate, 
14 


210        Suggestions  to  Teachers 


the  attitudes  they  shall  establish,  the  artistic  re- 
sults they  shall  obtain,  and  the  social  tendencies 
they  shall  build  up,  as  well  as  the  especial  needs  of 
individual  children.  With  these  purposes  in  mind, 
she  will  carefully  select  her  material. 

Material. — If  the  child's  experiences  are  to  be 
constructive  and  real  experiences,  they  must  in- 
volve material  that  the  child  can  comprehend  and 
handle  easily.  This  at  once  excludes  the  piano 
and  violin  for  most  young  children  and  implies  in- 
struments and  musical  literature  of  the  child's  own 
level.  In  order  that  those  experiences  may  grow 
and  flourish  they  must  be  rooted  in  the  elemental 
ground  of  his  nature.  So,  first  of  all,  the  material 
must  be  suited  to  the  child's  powers.  There  must 
also  be  variety  in  material  that  the  child's  inter- 
est may  be  refreshed  before  it  tires,  and  that  his 
experiences  may  be  correlated  with  many  things. 
The  material  must  also  be  such  as  gives  experiences 
in  beauty  and  supplies  for  him  always  growing 
ideals  of  beauty. 

Method. — The  material  may  be  ever  so  fine  and 
yet  be  spoiled  by  the  bad  use  of  it.  One  must 
have  a  sound  educational  principle  underlying 
one's  plan  of  using  material.  For  example,  the 
basic  principle  underlying  one's  work  may  be  that 


Suggestions  to  Teachers  211 


we  "learn  by  doing,"  and  upon  that  principle  one 
may  build  many  plans  of  procedure.  Although 
these  working  plans  and  principles  are  vital  to 
constructive  teaching,  I  think  many  teachers  have 
overrated  the  necessity  of  following  a  certain  line 
of  thought  and  procedure.  To  follow  rigidly  any 
fixed  series  of  ideas  or  lessons  (even  one's  own)  is 
destructive  to  the  teacher's  initiative,  and  the 
teacher,  of  all  others,  has  great  need  for  all  her  ini- 
tiative and  resourcefulness.  Her  method  does  not 
have  to  be  arbitrary,  neither  are  inventions  and  de- 
vices necessary,  if  the  material  is  adequate  and  inter- 
esting. I  doubt  not,  however,  that  there  has  been  a 
real  reason  for  the  devising  of  so  many  "methods" 
in  music  teaching,  namely,  the  need  to  sustain  the 
child's  interest  in  something  that  is  naturally  un- 
suited  to  his  capacity.  But  if  the  material  set  before 
him  is  of  the  kind  to  strike  the  elemental  note  in  his 
nature  and  keep  it  sounding  all  the  way  from  his 
instincts  up  to  his  fullest  capacity  of  cultural  de- 
velopment, his  own  natural  craving  for  it  will  supply 
the  interest,  even  if  the  teacher  follows  no  other 
method  than  the  child's  own,  and  any  one  of  a 
dozen  methods  maybe  equally  effective  if  the  basic 
principle  is  right.  The  very  nature  of  music  is 
such,  and  man's  relation  to  it  is  so  close,  that  it 


212        Suggestions  to  Teachers 


seems  rather  inappropriate  to  let  anything  so  formal 
as  a  fixed  method  stand  between  the  little  child 
and  his  experiences  in  so  elemental  an  art. 

The  deciding  questions  in  selecting  a  method,  it 
seems  to  me,  should  be — Does  this  plan  stimulate 
and  gratify,  in  a  natural  way,  the  child's  own 
creative  impulse?  Does  it  draw  something  out  of 
the  child — ^not  impose  something  upon  him?  Is 
it  based  on  the  recognition  of  the  child's  natural 
and  acquired  responses? 

Technique. — The  watchword  for  the  teacher's 
technique  should  be  to  keep  the  child  interested 
in  the  thing  he  is  doing  for  the  sake  of  the  thing  it- 
self. To  do  this  she  must  establish  the  right 
atmosphere  in  which  he  may  work;  she  must  see 
that  what  he  attempts  is  not  beyond  his  power, 
yet  presents  some  difficulty  for  him  to  overcome, 
and  will  give  him  pleasure  when  it  is  successfully 
done. 

The  technique  which  one  employs  in  applying 
method  to  material  depends  upon  the  experience, 
wisdom,  skill,  and  personality  of  the  teacher.  She 
may  formulate  and  definitely  state  her  method  but 
she  cannot  state  her  technique,  because  it  varies 
always  with  varying  circumstances,  and  it  cannot 
be  set  forth  on  paper.    And  yet  I  would  consider 


Suggestions  to  Teachers  213 


the  technique  of  the  music  teacher  as  even  more 
important  than  the  method.  The  "way  she  does 
it"  counts  more  in  the  teaching  of  music  than  in 
the  teaching  of  anything  else  I  know. 

Results. — In  general,  if  the  above  conditions  are 
met;  if  the  material  is  suited  to  the  child,  is  varied 
and  leading  to  beauty;  if  the  method  stimulates 
and  exercises  naturally  the  child's  creative  power, 
and  if  the  drive  behind  his  work  is  an  absorbing 
interest  in  the  thing  itself, — then  the  educator's 
aim  will  be  fulfilled  and  the  child  will  have  real 
and  constructive  musical  experiences. 

It  is  impossible  to  tabulate  all  the  results  of 
one's  teaching,  or  to  know  all  the  effects  of  these 
musical  experiences  upon  the  child.  The  music 
teacher  has  dealt  not  only  with  the  child's  intellect 
and  his  body — with  his  power  to  think  and  to  do — 
but  she  has  also  dealt  very  largely  with  his  power 
to  feel.  It  is  easy  to  test  one's  handiwork,  and 
educators  have  devised  means  for  testing  intel- 
lectual growth,  but  how  are  we  to  test  a  child's 
emotional  development,  and  who  can  measure 
accurately  the  effect  of  one's  teaching  upon  the 
child's  power  to  feel  or  to  aspire.''  And  yet  this  is 
perhaps  the  music  teacher's  richest  realm  when  she 
has  the  power  to  develop  it.    The  musical  feeling 


214        Suggestions  to  Teachers 


of  the  child  is  intangible  and  evanescent,  affecting 
his  entire  being,  and  the  teacher  who  cultivates  it 
most  effectively  is  one  whose  contact  with  him 
comes  through  those  intangible,  indescribable,  un- 
catalogued  attributes  called  personality.  If  she 
is  lacking  in  personality  even  though  her  material 
and  method  may  be  excellent,  and  the  other  phases 
of  her  technique  without  definite  criticism,  she  will 
never  be  able  to  build  most  constructively  upon 
the  child's  emotions. 

The  power  of  music  over  us  from  infancy  to  the 
grave  is  so  great  that  those  of  us  who  try  to  estab- 
lish a  closer  intimacy  between  this  powerful  force 
and  the  plastic  child,  have  assumed  a  serious,  even 
if  most  joyful  undertaking.  For  "Thus,"  says 
Stanley  Hall,  "in  a  day  when  psychologists  are 
realizing  with  one  accord  that  the  feelings  are  far 
vaster  than  the  intellect  and  will,  and  are  more 
important  for  health  and  sanity,  it  is  clear  that 
music  teachers  more  than  any  other  class  are 
charged  with  the  custody  and  responsibility  of  the 
hygiene  of  the  emotional  life." 


Katharine's  Phoebe  Bird 


# — 

;  ^ 

I  hear  a  little    ?f?oel;e    Bird  , 


v—j — 

P — 7- 

'-^i  -—  — ^  j 

 — ' 

i|  off  in     floe  YiOol% 


J  ,1  I  J 


I'fljere  we   cant  see  K 


im. 


Dorianne*s  Goosey  Gander 


* 


J  ■'  J  1  I  J   J  II 

In   mj    lady's  cliaml;er. 


Alva's  Harp  Improvisation 


Jane's  Gavotte 


Bill's  Green  Bird 


1 — el  1 

Of)»  beau  ti  Green 


...    .        >  . 



Hi<|[)  »|ou        over  llie  "Ivce  lop 


J  i  I J  ^  r 


01),  beauli|u(  Green  Bird  !  Hi^b 
wf. 


ClouJs  sail  0\/er  ijou 


Margaret's  Green  Bird 


i 


Come         -me  ,  Come  lo  me\ 


J.hi  ij|ih 


lor 


llie  V/in-|er^  <|one  and^lie  Sjoi'inj  is  here. 


1 

J 

Cradle  Song 


.J                       "Bij  Florence 
le<fe.To.  1 

I*  • 

— & 

jrvf — 

— - — 1 

J 

—  Q-^ 

— 

A  Dance  for  the  New  Fiddle 


m 


f 

#  1 

M 

MUSICAL  INSTRUMENTS  USED  IN  THIS 
WORK 


215 


MUSICAL  INSTRUMENTS  USED  IN  THIS 

WORK 


Most  of  these  may  be  made  at  home  by  the  children. 
The  order  of  the  instruments  as  listed  in  each  class  shows,  in 
general,  a  development  from  the  simple  to  the  complex. 


PERCUSSION  INSTRUMENTS. 


Kettle  drums — made  of  chopping  bowls,  earthen- 

PAGE 

ware  bowls,  etc.  ..... 

41, 

192 

Tabor — made  of  spice  box 

41 

Barrel  drums — made  of  kegs,  butter  tubs,  hollow 

logs,  etc.  ...... 

41, 

192 

Rattle — made  of  gourd  .... 

42 

Tambourine — made  of  round  box  cover 

42 

Metal  bars — metal  of  diflferent  lengths 

43 

Ordinary  bells  ..... 

43 

Sleigh  beUs  

44 

Swiss  bells  ...... 

44 

Tubaphone — metal  tubing  of  different  lengths 

44 

Silver  spoons — selected  from  the  pantry 

44 

Chinese  gongs  ..... 

45 

Marimba — made  of  strips  of  wood  of  different 

lengths  ...... 

45, 

193 

Glasses — selected  from  the  pantry  and  tuned  with 

water  ....... 

4G, 

191 

Bottles — soda-water  bottles  tuned  with  water 

48 

Vibrating  rods  ..... 

48 

Musical  cactus  

49 

217 


2i8   Instruments  Used  in  This  Work 


WIND  INSTRUMENTS. 

PAGE 

Reed  pipes  of  Pan — made  from  elder  branches, 

small  cornstalks,  or  fleece-flower  stems    .       51,  197 
Bottle  pipes  of  Pan — made  of  small  bottles  tuned 

with  water    .......  53 

Reed  trumpet — made  from  large  hollow  reed     53,  201 
Cow-horn  trumpet — cow's  horn  with  tip  cut  oflf  .  54 
Triton  shell  trumpet — large  sea  shell  with  hole  near 
apex    ........  55 

Birch-bark  trumpet — either  with  or  without  card- 
board lining  ......  55 

Shof ar — made  of  gourd  shaped  like  a  ram's  horn .  55 
Shepherd's  pipe — made  of  elder  or  fleece-flower 
stems  ........  55 

Flageolet — made  of  metal         ....  56 

Ocarina —     "     "  clay    .....  57 

Wheat-straw  oboe — a  double  reed  instrument 
made  of  straw       ......  58 

Hautboy — made  of  paper  drinking  straw     .        .  58 
Squash-leaf  oboe — made  of  stem  of  squash  leaf  .  58 
Petunia-blossom  oboe — with  holes  in  the  tube  of 

the  flower     .......  59 

Wheat-straw  clarinet— a  single  reed  instrument 
made  of  straw      ......  59 

Indian  squaller — made  of  wood,  with  single  beat- 
ing reed       .......  60 

Chinese  tche — which  is  blown  in  the  middle  of  a 

long  tube      .......  60 

Egyptian  ney — a  tube  open  at  both  ends  and  blown 
across  the  top       ......  60 

Cornstalk  fife — made  of  small  cornstalk,  burned 
out  with  hot  wire  .....  61 

Reed  flute — made  of  stem  of  fleece-flower  plant  .  61 


Instruments  Used  in  This  Work  219 


Chinese  flute  .......  62 

Six-keyed  flute   62 

Piccolo   62 

Boehm  flute   62 

STRINGED  INSTRUMENTS. 


Hunter's  bow   62 

Tension  bow — made  of  a  long,  narrow  board       .  63 

Shoulder  harp — made  of  cart  wheel  rim      .        .  64 

Triangle  harp — made  of  a  wooden  coat  hanger  64 
Wish-bone  harp — made  of  the  forked  branch  oi  a 

tree     ........  65 

Theban  harp — made  of  an  automobile  wheel  rim.  65 

Chinese  kin — our  first  use  of  a  sounding  board  66 
Tortoise-shell  lyre — made  of  tortoise-shell  and 

sheepskin      .......  67 

Cigar-box  lyre — with  wire  strings  of  equal  lengths 

and  a  sounding  box       ....       68,  203 

Greek  lyre      .......  68 

Psaltery — with  strings  of  different  lengths  .        .  69 

Cigar-box  lute — our  first  instrument  with  a  neck  71 

Birds'-nest  lute — made  of  a  Hercules  Club  gourd  71 

Irish  harp       .......  71 

Cocoanut  banjo — a  long  stick,  a  cocoanut  shell  and 

.some  sheepskin     ......  72 

Butter-tub  banjo — more  like  the  modern  banjo  72 
Gourd  banjo — with  round,  deep  body  of  gourd  as 

resonator      .......  72 

Cocoanut  fiddle — banjo  form  with  high  bridge     .  73 

Cigar-box  monochord — to  be  played  with  a  bow  .  74 
Monochord — with  movable  bridge,  and  plucked 

with  fingers  .......  75 


220  Instruments  Used  in  This  Work 


PAOB 

Cigar-box  cello — with  three  strings  ...  76 
Cigar-box  violin — with  three  strings  and  played  at 

the  chin       .......  76 

Violin — of  professional  make     ....  78 

Violin — made  from  cedar  wood,  and  containing 

sound-post   .......  79 

Dulcimer — a  descendant  of  the  psaltery  and  an 

ancestor  of  the  piano    .....  80 

Piano     ....       ^      ...  80 


Jk  Selection  from  the 
Catalogue  of 

.  P.  PUTNAM'S  SONS 


Complete  Catalogues  sent 
on  application 


RHYTHM,  MUSIC  and  EDUCATION 
By  Emile  Jaques-Dalcroze 

8°.    Illustrated  from  Striking  Action  Photographs 
and  16  pages  of  Musical  Notations 

"  Everyone  knows  how  much  M.  Dalcroze  has  done  for  the 
service  of  musical  education ;  with  what  skill,  devotion,  and 
insight  he  has  laid  down  the  principles  of  his  art,  and  shown 
the  way  of  carrying  them  into  practice.  He  has  done  more 
than  any  man  living  for  the  study  of  rhythmic  beauty,  and  in 
this  work  he  not  only  explains  his  method  but  shows  us  how 
it  can  be  carried  on  and  extended." 

Extract  from  Sir  Henry  Hadow's  Introduction 

Aside  from  the  pure  beauty  of  the  study  of  Eurhythmies,  its  im<' 
pertaace  as  an  educational  factor  cannot  be  over^emphasized.    It  is  ■ 
taught  in  the  N,  Y.  Institute  for  the  Education  of  the  Blind  with  marked 
tuceess  and  in  many  private  and  public  schools  and  colleges, 

CONTENTS 

The  Place  of  Ear  Training  in  Musical  Education 

An  Essay  in  the  Reform  of  Music  Teaching  in  Schools 

"The  Young  Lady  of  the  Conservatoire  and  the  Piano" 

The  Initiation  into  Rhythm 

Music  and  the  Child 

Rhythmic  Movement,  Solfege,  and  Improvisation 

Eurhythmies  and  Musical  Composition 

Music,  Joy,  and  the  School 

Rhythm  and  Creative  Imagination 

Rhythm  and  Gesture  in  Music  Drama — and  Criticism 

How  to  Revive  Dancing 

Eurhythmies  and  Moving  Plastic 

Music  and  the  Dancer 

Rhythm,  Time,  and  Temperament 

Musical  Supplement 


New  York  G.  P.  Putnam's   Sons  Londoa 


The  Complete 
Opera  Book 

By 

Gustav  Kobbe 

1000  Page*.    100  Illustrations.    Revised  to  Date. 


Henry  T.  Fiack,  Musical  critic  of  the  New  Yorlt  Evening  Post, 
says  I  "  It  is  indeed  (be  '  Complete  Opera  Book ' —  mote  com^ 
plete  and  abreast  of  the  time  than  any  other  similar  work." 


Gustav  Kobbe's  great  work  is  not  only  the  most 
comprehensive  handbook  to  the  opera  yet  offered  to 
the  public,  the  careful  scholarly  work  of  an  author 
long  recognized  as  a  leading  critic — it  is  an  enter- 
taining, readable  volume  with  a  very  direct  appeal  to 
all  music  lovers.  The  author  eliminates  the  tedious 
libretto  and  the  usually  involved  argument,  and  writes 
a  real  short  story  of  each  opera  in  a  lucid  and  fasci- 
nating manner.  There  are  brief  biographies  of  the 
composers,  and  a  running  history  of  the  opera  from 
the  pre-Gluck  days  to  the  very  latest  composers,  its 
schools,  its  development,  and  its  art.  There  are  nearly 
two  hundred  operas  represented,  four  hundred  leading 
airs  and  motives  in  musical  notation,  a  hundred  illus- 
trations in  costume  of  the  great  artists  who  have  won 
fame  on  the  operatic  stage,  including  many  photo- 
graps  of  scenes  from  the  operas,  and  a  complete  index. 

The  Complete  Opera  Book  should  find  a  place  in 
the  library  of  every  cultured  home  in  America. 


New  York        G.  P.  PutnaiTl's  Sons  London 


